Candidate for
Governor; State of Pennsylvania; Democratic Party

The first priority of the next Governor must be to assess the fiscal condition of state government and develop a comprehensive plan to maintain vital government services without raising taxes. My experience as Auditor General makes me uniquely suited for this important task. I know firsthand where the waste, fraud, and abuse are in government programs from the thousands of audits that I have conducted. I will implement my recommendations for saving money in state government programs in order to invest in education, job creation/retention, and the environment. My priorities in these particular areas are as follows:

EDUCATION: Throughout my career, I have fought to provide public schools with the resources needed to provide our children with the best possible education. As Governor, I will continue to improve the system of funding public education in the Commonwealth in a fiscally responsible way. I am also very concerned about the high school dropout rate. I believe that one of the best things that we can do for our young people is to make sure that they stay in school. It also benefits our state as a whole. Studies have shown that states with higher graduation rates have lower crime rates and lower expenditures for corrections, social services, and welfare programs.

One of my top priorities as Governor is to create a HOPE (Helping Our Pupils to Excel) Scholarship program to make higher education affordable for Pennsylvania students who attend Pennsylvania colleges and universities. Students who graduate from high school with at least a 3.0 grade point average would have their tuition paid for at a state-owned university. Students choosing to attend a state-related institution (Penn State, Pitt, Temple, and Lincoln universities), a private institution, a community college, or a vocational-technical school would receive a scholarship valued at the average cost of a state-owned university. The program would be funded by excess profits from table games at Pennsylvania casinos.

I will also continue my focus on school safety. Children cannot learn, and teachers cannot teach, in an unsafe or disruptive environment. Anti-bullying initiatives are an important component of school safety and society in general.

One of my goals as Auditor General was to use my professional background and experience as a safety engineer to develop and conduct audits to promote modern, safe, and healthy schools throughout the Commonwealth. Based on the results of a statewide survey, our department developed a school safety and security checklist that we began implementing with our cyclical school audits. We also conducted a special performance audit of the Department of Education's duties and responsibilities with regard to safe schools initiatives. We found that the Department of Education has adopted a hands-off, reactive approach to the task of addressing violence in Pennsylvania schools, impeding its ability to quickly identify dangerous schools and target limited state resources to assist schools that need the most help. In particular, the Department of Education was failing to enforce Act 26, which the General Assembly passed in 1995 and I voted for as a State Senator to address violence in Pennsylvania schools. As Governor, I will make sure that the Department of Education fully complies with the law and makes school safety, including anti-bullying initiatives, a priority.

JOBS: I will work with the private sector to create and maintain high quality, family-sustaining jobs to grow our economy. I will use my experience as Auditor General to fix the state's economic development programs and hold the recipients of state assistance accountable for creating and retaining the jobs promised. I will also use my experience to bring transparency and competition to the state's own awarding of contracts for goods and services. Finally, as further discussed below, I will maximize the state¡¦s new Marcellus Shale energy resources to create jobs and reduce the cost of natural gas in an environmentally responsible way.

ENVIRONMENT: The new Marcellus Shale energy resources give the Commonwealth an unparalleled opportunity in the coming years to create tens of thousands of good paying, high quality jobs to our communities and bring in much-needed revenues to state government. However, while I am committed to maximizing these new resources, I am equally committed to ensuring that it is done in an environmentally responsible way. As Governor, I will make sure that the industry understands that these resources belong to all Pennsylvanians, that we, not outsiders, intend to reap the benefits, and that we will not tolerate any harm to our precious environment. I will insist that the costs of the increased government oversight necessary to build and monitor this new industry be borne by the industry itself.

I will also make the Pennsylvania Turnpike the first multi-fuel highway in the country, with the infrastructure to support vehicles powered by electricity, natural gas, gasoline, and diesel. This will help us get off oil and, at the same time, stimulate the green economy. I will partner with the governors of our neighboring states in this important effort.

IN ADDITION, the next Governor must immediately begin to restore the public's faith in state government. Repairing the culture of corruption in Harrisburg will take a Governor with a record of integrity and a commitment to reform. I was the first statewide official to condemn bonuses in state government and to propose banning them. I have long fought to reduce the size of the General Assembly and to give the people the power to reform their government through a constitutional convention. I have worked with law enforcement to investigate, prosecute, and punish those who steal from the taxpayers. Quite simply, being Auditor General is about leading the fight for transparency, accountability, and reform in all areas of state government. I will continue to do so as Governor.

FINALLY, as Governor, I will continue to stand up for working men and women, as I have throughout my career. After graduating from high school, I worked at Duquesne Light Company as a meter reader, draftsman, and payroll clerk, and was a member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. I am proud to be an honorary member of the union today and to have received significant support from organized labor as a candidate and elected official. As Auditor General, I have fought to protect the rights of the men and women of organized labor, uncovering violations of the prevailing wage, unemployment, and workers' compensation laws, as well as violations of the fundamental right to form and join a union.

I would appreciate your support for my campaign. Please visit http://www.jackwagner.org for more information.