Tom Corbett
46th Governor of Pennsylvania
Incumbent
Assumed office January 18, 2011
Lieutenant	Jim Cawley
Preceded by	Ed Rendell
46th Attorney General of Pennsylvania
In office January 18, 2005[1] – January 18, 2011
Preceded by	Jerry Pappert
Succeeded by	William Ryan (Acting)
In office October 3, 1995 – January 22, 1997
Preceded by	Ernie Preate
Succeeded by	Mike Fisher
United States Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania
In office November 30, 1989 – May 1, 1993
Nominated by	George H. W. Bush
Preceded by	Charles Sheehy (Acting)
Succeeded by	Frederick Thieman
Personal details
Born	(1949-06-17) June 17, 1949 (age 63) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Susan Manbeck
Residence	Governor's Residence
Alma mater	Lebanon Valley College St. Mary's University, Texas
Religion	Roman Catholic
Signature
Website	Official website
Military service
Service/branch	United States Army
Years of service	1971–1984
Rank	Captain
Unit	28th Infantry Division

Thomas W. "Tom" Corbett (born June 17, 1949) is an American politician who has been the 46th Governor of Pennsylvania since 2011. He is a member of the Republican Party.

Corbett was the Attorney General of Pennsylvania from 1995 to 1997; he was appointed by Governor Tom Ridge to fill the unexpired term of Ernie Preate following Preate's indictment. Subsequently he was elected as Attorney General in 2004; he served as Attorney General from 2005 to 2011, winning re-election in 2008.^[2]

Early life, education, and early career[link]

Corbett received his Bachelor's degree at Lebanon Valley College and was employed as a 9th grade teacher for one year.^[3] Corbett then earned his J.D. from St. Mary's University Law School. He served in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard 28th Infantry Division from 1971 to 1984, rising to the rank of Captain.

Corbett's career has been split between private practice and civil service. He began his legal career as an assistant district attorney in Pittsburgh's Allegheny County. After three and a half years, he was hired in 1980 as assistant United States Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania.

In 1983, Corbett went into private practice for several years. During this period, Corbett won his first election as a township commissioner in the Pittsburgh suburb of Shaler Township.

In 1988, a judge appointed him to monitor the Allegheny County jail while it was under the court's supervision. In 1989, Senators John Heinz and Arlen Specter recommended to President Bush that he nominate Corbett for the post of United States Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania.^[4][5] Corbett served in the post until May 1993, when he was dismissed by President Bill Clinton.^[6]

Corbett then returned to private practice, also serving as an adviser to the gubernatorial campaign of Tom Ridge. Following Ridge's victory, Corbett served on a number of state commissions including the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, which he served as chairman.

Corbett left office in 1997 and again went into the private sector, first as general counsel for Waste Management, Inc., then opening his own practice.

Attorney General[link]

1995 appointment[link]

In 1995, Corbett was appointed to the position of State Attorney General by Governor Ridge to fill the remainder of the term left by the conviction of Ernie Preate.^[7] As a condition of his Senate confirmation, Senate Democrats required him to pledge that he would not run for re-election in 1996. This is a common practice in Pennsylvania for appointments to elected offices. Jerry Pappert made the same pledge in 2003 when he succeeded Mike Fisher as State Attorney General.

2004 election[link]

The race began with Corbett, Montgomery County district attorney Bruce Castor, and Joe Peters fighting for the Republican party endorsement. With Corbett from western Pennsylvania, Castor from the southeast, and Peters from the northeast, it was initially expected that endorsement votes would follow geographic lines. However, four of the five southeastern county chairmen came out in support of Corbett with Castor taking only Montgomery County.

Furious that he had lost party endorsements, Castor lashed out at the county chairman with accusations of backroom deals with Bob Asher, the state's national GOP committeeman and a convicted felon connected to Budd Dwyer. During the campaign, Castor launched attack ads against Corbett for his prior employment at Waste Management Inc, and the financial support he received from Asher. Corbett's campaign responded with advertisements critical of Castor's acceptance of $625,000 in contributions from Drew Lewis after Lewis was convicted of DUI but permitted to serve his sentence at an upscale rehab facility in New England.

Corbett held on to large majorities in Western Pennsylvania including 82% in his base of Allegheny County,^[8] while Castor prevailed in the Southeast with almost a similar margin. Ultimately, Corbett won the race with 52.8% of the vote.^[9] Castor subsequently announced his support of Corbett in the general election against Democrat Jim Eisenhower.

The General election was not as contentious as it was close. After early returns were reported, the Associated Press called the race in Eisenhower's favor, only to retract that call later as the numbers closed. Corbett declared victory the following morning, having defeated Eisenhower by nearly 110,000 votes, winning 50.4% to 48.3%. Green party candidate Marakay Rogers captured 1.3% of the vote.^[10]

2008 election[link]

Corbett was re-elected in 2008. He won with the largest vote total of any Republican in the state's history.^[3] He defeated Democrat John Morganelli, bucking the trend of Democratic success in Pennsylvania that year.

Healthcare reform[link]

On March 23, 2010, Corbett, along with 13 other state attorneys general, filed a lawsuit against the mandates in the just-signed federal Healthcare Bill, claiming it is unconstitutional. As of January 2011, a total of 27 states have joined this lawsuit.^[11]

Governor of Pennsylvania[link]

2010 election[link]

On March 17, 2009, it was reported that Corbett had formed an exploratory committee and had begun filing the paperwork necessary to begin a run for Governor of Pennsylvania. On September 15, 2009, Corbett formally declared his candidacy^[12] and, on May 18, 2010, won the GOP primary with nearly 70% of the vote.^[13]

In May 2010 Corbett filed a criminal subpoena against twitter ordering them to divulge "any and all subscriber information" of the person(s) behind two accounts that were criticizing the Republican candidate.^[14] Corbett's office denied that the subpoenas were related to the criticism, but rather to an ongoing grand jury investigation. Corbett's office ultimately withdrew the subpoenas. One of the account owners declined to say whether he was indeed the subject of a grand jury investigation.^[15]

In July 2010, Corbett garnered attention for suggesting that some of the unemployed are exploiting the extension of unemployment benefits prior to seeking employment, and later noting the prevalence of "help wanted" ads in the newspapers as evidence of the availability of employment.^[16][17]

In September 2010, at the first gubernatorial debate, Corbett again gained attention for seemingly violating his "no-tax pledge" in suggesting that he would consider raising the payroll contribution tax.^[18]

On November 2, 2010, Corbett was elected governor of Pennsylvania, succeeding Democrat Ed Rendell. Corbett assumed the office of governor on January 18, 2011, at 12:29 PM.

Tenure[link]

Budget[link]

Corbett became governor on January 18, 2011. One of his first actions was the proposal of a new state budget that would decrease spending by 3%. The proposed budget received significant criticism due to its cuts in state-supported higher education by 50%. Under the new budget, funding granted to the 14 universities of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education and state-related universities Penn State, Pittsburgh, Temple, and Lincoln would be cut in half, totaling $625 million. Corbett has said, however, that he will not attempt to limit collective bargaining, as have Republican Governors John Kasich of Ohio and Scott Walker of Wisconsin.^[19]

Natural gas[link]

As governor, Corbett maintains that Pennsylvania should not tax the natural gas industry.^[20][21] In February 2011, Corbett repealed a four month old policy regulating natural gas drilling (including hydraulic fracturing) in park land, deeming it "unnecessary and redundant" according to a spokesperson. The Pennsylvania Democratic Party called the repeal a "payoff" to oil and gas interests which donated a million dollars to Corbett's campaign.^[22] According to Corbett, "had they not given me a dime, I would still be in this position, saying we need to grow jobs in Pennsylvania".^[23]

On February 14, 2012, Corbett signed The Marcellus Shale Law (House Bill 1950).^[24] The law changes the zoning laws applicable to Marcellus Shale well drilling, which is more commonly known as hydraulic fracturing. Some of its provisions are that all municipalities must allow Marcellus Shale well drilling in all zoning districts, including residential and municipalities may not limit hours of operation. Water and wastewater pits must also be allowed in all zoning districts, including residential. Compressor stations must be allowed in industrial and agricultural zoning districts and towns may not limit hours of operation. Gas processing plants are allowed in industrial zoning districts and hours of operation cannot be limited. Gas pipelines must be allowed in all zoning districts, including residential.^[24] The law helps gain access to land for new pipelines,^[25] one of which will transport natural gas from Pennsylvania to export terminals in Maryland,^{[26][27] [28][29]} from which it will be shipped to Europe and Asia.^[30][31] Others contend that the pipeline's purpose is to transport the gas to Maryland and D.C. markets.^[32][26] There are also concerns that exporting natural gas will result in more jobs going overseas, leading to increased unemployment in Pennsylvania and other states as gas prices rise globally.^[33]

The Marcellus Shale Law (House Bill 1950) also contains a provision that allows doctors in Pennsylvania access to the list of chemicals in hydraulic fracturing fluid in emergency situations only, but forbids them from discussing this information with their patients.^[34] The information can only be used for emergency medical treatment, and the doctor must immediately verbally agree to keep the information confidential and later sign a document to that effect.^[35] The bill also reduces the legal responsibility of vendors, service providers, and operators regarding the identity and impact of contents of the hydraulic fracturing fluid they use.^[35]

Personal life[link]

Corbett is married; he and his wife Susan have two children, Tom and Katherine. Tom is an interactive gaming producer and Katherine is a prosecutor in the Philadelphia District Attorney's office.^[36]

References[link]

External links[link]

	Biography portal
	Pennsylvania portal
	Politics portal

• Governor Tom Corbett official government site
• Tom Corbett for Governor official campaign site
• Biography at the National Governors Association
• Biography, interest group ratings, public statements, vetoes and campaign finances at Project Vote Smart
• Biography at WhoRunsGov.com at The Washington Post
• Issue positions and quotes at On the Issues
• Campaign contributions at FollowTheMoney.org
• Appearances on C-SPAN programs
• Works by or about Tom Corbett in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• Profile at Notable Names Database
• Tom Corbett: Pennsylvania at NAAG.org

v t e Governors and Presidents of Pennsylvania Presidents (1777–1790) Wharton Bryan Reed Moore Dickinson Franklin Mifflin Governors (since 1790) Mifflin McKean Snyder Findlay Hiester Shulze Wolf Ritner Porter Shunk Johnston Bigler Pollock Packer Curtin Geary Hartranft Hoyt Pattison Beaver Pattison Hastings Stone Pennypacker Stuart Tener Brumbaugh Sproul Pinchot Fisher Pinchot Earle James Martin Bell Duff Fine Leader Lawrence Scranton Shafer Shapp Thornburgh Casey Ridge Schweiker Rendell Corbett

v t e Current statewide political officials of Pennsylvania U.S. Senators Bob Casey, Jr. Pat Toomey State government Tom Corbett, Governor Jim Cawley, Lieutenant Governor Linda Kelly, Attorney General Robert McCord, Treasurer Jack Wagner, Auditor General Senate Joe Scarnati, President pro tempore Dominic Pileggi, Majority Leader Jay Costa, Minority Leader House Sam Smith, Speaker Mike Turzai, Majority Leader Frank Dermody, Minority Leader Supreme Court (elected) Ronald Castille Chief Justice Thomas G. Saylor J. Michael Eakin Max Baer Debra Todd Seamus McCaffery Joan Orie Melvin Recused pending criminal charges AL AK AZ AR CA CO CT DE FL GA HI ID IL IN IA KS KY LA ME MD MA MI MN MS MO MT NE NV NH NJ NM NY NC ND OH OK OR PA RI SC SD TN TX UT VT VA WA WV WI WY