Government of Pennsylvania
Encyclopedia
History
Pennsylvania has had five constitutionPennsylvania Constitution
The current Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, most recently revised in 1968, forms the law for the United States Commonwealth of Pennsylvania...
s during its statehood: 1776, 1790, 1838, 1874, and 1968. Prior to that, the province of Pennsylvania was governed for a century by a book titled Frame of Government, written by William Penn, of which there were four versions: 1682, 1683, 1696, and 1701.
The capital of the Commonwealth
Commonwealth
Commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has sometimes been synonymous with "republic."More recently it has been used for fraternal associations of some sovereign nations...
is Harrisburg
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Harrisburg is the capital of Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 49,528, making it the ninth largest city in Pennsylvania...
.
Branches
As with the federal government, the power structure of Pennsylvania's government is divided into three branches; the ExecutiveExecutive (government)
Executive branch of Government is the part of government that has sole authority and responsibility for the daily administration of the state bureaucracy. The division of power into separate branches of government is central to the idea of the separation of powers.In many countries, the term...
, Legislative
Legislature
A legislature is a kind of deliberative assembly with the power to pass, amend, and repeal laws. The law created by a legislature is called legislation or statutory law. In addition to enacting laws, legislatures usually have exclusive authority to raise or lower taxes and adopt the budget and...
, and Judicial branches.
Executive
The current Governor is Tom CorbettTom Corbett
Thomas W. Corbett is the 46th and current Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States. He is a former Attorney General of Pennsylvania and was elected to that office in 2004 and reelected in 2008...
The other elected officials composing the executive branch are the Lieutenant Governor
Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania
The Lieutenant Governor is a constitutional officer of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The Lieutenant Governor is elected every four years along with the Governor. Jim Cawley of Bucks County is the incumbent Lieutenant Governor...
Jim Cawley
Jim Cawley
James "Jim" Cawley is the 32nd and current Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania.-Political career:He was appointed to the Bucks County Board of Commissioners following the resignation of Mike Fitzpatrick and was elected to a full term in 2007, when he became chairman of the board...
, Attorney General
Pennsylvania Attorney General
The Pennsylvania Attorney General is the chief law enforcement officer of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It became an elected office in 1980. Currently, the office is held by Linda Kelly.- Authority and Responsibilities :...
William H. Ryan, Jr.
William H. Ryan, Jr.
William H. Ryan, Jr. is an American politician and attorney who served as the acting Attorney General of Pennsylvania from January through May of 2011.-Education:Ryan is a graduate of Saint Joseph's University and Villanova University Law School....
, Auditor General
Pennsylvania Auditor General
The Pennsylvania Auditor General is the chief fiscal officer of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It became an elected office in 1850. The current Auditor General of Pennsylvania is Jack Wagner.- History :...
Jack Wagner
Jack Wagner (politician)
Jack E. Wagner is the current auditor general of Pennsylvania. The statewide elected office is charged with serving as the commonwealth’s independent fiscal monitor...
, and State Treasurer
Pennsylvania Treasurer
The Pennsylvania Treasurer is the head of the Pennsylvania Department of the Treasury, which is the custodian of virtually all the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's funds....
Rob McCord.
Legislature
Pennsylvania has a bicameral legislature set up by Commonwealth's constitution in 1790. The original Frame of Government of William Penn had a unicameral legislature. The General AssemblyPennsylvania General Assembly
The Pennsylvania General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The legislature convenes in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. In colonial times , the legislature was known as the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly. Since the Constitution of 1776, written by...
includes 50 Senators and 203 Representatives
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two year terms from single member districts....
. Joseph B. Scarnati III is currently President Pro Tempore
President pro tempore
A President pro tempore is a constitutionally recognized officer of a legislative body who presides over the chamber in the absence of the normal presiding officer...
of the State Senate, Dominic Pileggi
Dominic Pileggi
Dominic Pileggi is an American politician from Pennsylvania who serves as Republican Leader of the Pennsylvania State Senate. Pileggi represents the 9th district, which includes portions of Chester and Delaware Counties. Pileggi earned a B.A. in economics from Saint Joseph's University in 1979 and...
the Majority Leader
Majority leader
In U.S. politics, the majority floor leader is a partisan position in a legislative body.In the federal Congress, the role differs slightly in the two houses. In the House of Representatives, which chooses its own presiding officer, the leader of the majority party is elected the Speaker of the...
, and Robert J. Mellow
Robert J. Mellow
Robert J. "Bob" Mellow is a Democratic politician and former member of the Pennsylvania State Senate, who represented the 22nd District from 1971 to 2010. He also served as the Minority Floor Leader and President pro tempore.- Personal :...
the Minority Leader
Minority leader
In U.S. politics, the minority leader is the floor leader of the second largest caucus in a legislative body. Given the two-party nature of the U.S. system, the minority leader is almost inevitably either a Republican or a Democrat, with their counterpart being of the opposite party. The position...
. Keith R. McCall
Keith R. McCall
Keith R. McCall is a former Democratic member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives who represented the 122nd District from 1982 to 2010. He served as the Speaker of the House during the 2009–2010 legislative session.-Biography:...
is Speaker
Speaker (politics)
The term speaker is a title often given to the presiding officer of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body. The speaker's official role is to moderate debate, make rulings on procedure, announce the results of votes, and the like. The speaker decides who may speak and has the...
of the House of Representatives, with Todd A. Eachus
Todd A. Eachus
Todd A. Eachus served as a Democratic member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. He represented the 116th District from 1997 until 2010. Eachus represented most of southern Luzerne County, including Hazleton, Butler Township, and Foster Township...
as Majority Leader and Samuel H. Smith
Samuel H. Smith (politician)
Samuel H. "Sam" Smith is a Republican member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for the 66th District and was elected in 1986. The district includes portions of Jefferson, Indiana and Armstrong counties...
as Minority Leader. The 2006 election resulted in the Democrats regaining control of the House and the balance remaining unchanged in Republicans' favor in the Senate.
Judicial
Pennsylvania is divided into 60 judicial districts, most of which (except PhiladelphiaPhiladelphia County, Pennsylvania
-History:Tribes of Lenape were the first known occupants in the area which became Philadelphia County. The first European settlers were Swedes and Finns who arrived in 1638. The Netherlands seized the area in 1655, but permanently lost control to England in 1674...
) have magisterial district judges (formerly called district justices and justices of the peace), who preside mainly over minor criminal offenses and small civil claims. Magesterial District Judges also preside over preliminary hearings in all misdemeanor and felony criminal cases. Most criminal and civil cases originate in the Courts of Common Pleas, which also serve as appellate court
Appellate court
An appellate court, commonly called an appeals court or court of appeals or appeal court , is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal...
s to the district judges and for local agency decisions. The Superior Court
Superior Court of Pennsylvania
The Superior Court of Pennsylvania is one of two Pennsylvania intermediate appellate courts, the other being the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania. Appeal to the Superior Court is generally of right from final decisions of the Court of Common Pleas...
hears all appeals from the Courts of Common Pleas not expressly designated to the Commonwealth Court
Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania is one of two Pennsylvania intermediate appellate courts. The Commonwealth Court's headquarters is in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The Superior Court of Pennsylvania is the other intermediate appellate court in the Pennsylvania Unified Judicial System...
or Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania is the court of last resort for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It meets in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.-History:...
. It also has original jurisdiction
Original jurisdiction
The original jurisdiction of a court is the power to hear a case for the first time, as opposed to appellate jurisdiction, when a court has the power to review a lower court's decision.-France:...
to review warrant
Warrant (law)
Most often, the term warrant refers to a specific type of authorization; a writ issued by a competent officer, usually a judge or magistrate, which permits an otherwise illegal act that would violate individual rights and affords the person executing the writ protection from damages if the act is...
s for wiretap
Telephone tapping
Telephone tapping is the monitoring of telephone and Internet conversations by a third party, often by covert means. The wire tap received its name because, historically, the monitoring connection was an actual electrical tap on the telephone line...
surveillance. The Commonwealth Court
Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania is one of two Pennsylvania intermediate appellate courts. The Commonwealth Court's headquarters is in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The Superior Court of Pennsylvania is the other intermediate appellate court in the Pennsylvania Unified Judicial System...
is limited to appeals from final orders of certain state agencies and certain designated cases from the Courts of Common Pleas. The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania is the court of last resort for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It meets in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.-History:...
is the final appellate court. All judges in Pennsylvania are elected; the chief justice
Chief Justice
The Chief Justice in many countries is the name for the presiding member of a Supreme Court in Commonwealth or other countries with an Anglo-Saxon justice system based on English common law, such as the Supreme Court of Canada, the Constitutional Court of South Africa, the Court of Final Appeal of...
is determined by seniority.
Federal relations
During the Tom RidgeTom Ridge
Thomas Joseph "Tom" Ridge is an American politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives , the 43rd Governor of Pennsylvania , Assistant to the President for Homeland Security , and the first United States Secretary of Homeland Security...
administration, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania maintained a permanent in-house lobbying office in Washington, DC, to lobby the federal government of the United States
Federal government of the United States
The federal government of the United States is the national government of the constitutional republic of fifty states that is the United States of America. The federal government comprises three distinct branches of government: a legislative, an executive and a judiciary. These branches and...
. During the Ed Rendell
Ed Rendell
Edward Gene "Ed" Rendell is an American politician who served as the 45th Governor of Pennsylvania. Rendell, a member of the Democratic Party, was elected Governor of Pennsylvania in 2002, and his term of office began January 21, 2003...
administration, the Commonwealth closed that office and entered into a $720,000 annual contract with Blank Rome
Blank Rome
Blank Rome LLP, formerly known as Blank Rome Comisky & McCauley, is a full-service international law and government affairs firm. It is ranked as the 84th largest law firm in the United States in terms of revenue, according to the AmLaw 100 Survey...
to lobby the federal government. The Rendell administration says that the contract with Blank Rome was $140,000 less per year than maintaining a permanent state office in Washington.
Executive departments
Entities under the governor's jurisdiction include, among others:- Pennsylvania Board of Probation and ParolePennsylvania Board of Probation and ParolePennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole is a cabinet-level independent agency in Pennsylvania.-External links:*...
- Pennsylvania Bureau of State ParksPennsylvania Bureau of State ParksThe Pennsylvania Bureau of State Parks is an agency of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania that manages and operates the state park system of the state. The agency is part of the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources .-External links:...
- Pennsylvania Department of AgingPennsylvania Department of Aging-External links:*...
- Pennsylvania Department of AgriculturePennsylvania Department of AgriculturePennsylvania Department of Agriculture is a cabinet-level agency in Pennsylvania. The Department is responsible for encouraging, protecting and promoting agriculture and related industries throughout the commonwealth while providing consumer protection through inspection services that impact the...
- Pennsylvania Department of BankingPennsylvania Department of Banking-Organization:The Department is under the direction and control of a Secretary of Banking, who is appointed by the Governor of Pennsylvania to serve as a member of the Governor's cabinet...
- Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic DevelopmentPennsylvania Department of Community and Economic DevelopmentPennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development is a cabinet-level state agency in Pennsylvania.The Financially Distressed Municipalities Act , also known as Act 47, empowers the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development to declare certain municipalities in...
- Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural ResourcesPennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural ResourcesThe Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources , established on July 1, 1995, is the agency in the U.S. State of Pennsylvania responsible for maintaining and preserving the state's 117 state parks and 20 state forests; providing information on the state's natural resources; and...
(DCNR) - Pennsylvania Department of CorrectionsPennsylvania Department of CorrectionsThe Pennsylvania Department of Corrections is the Pennsylvania state agency that is responsible for the confinement, care and rehabilitation of approximately 51,000 inmates at state correctional facilities funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania...
- Pennsylvania Department of EducationPennsylvania Department of EducationThe Pennsylvania Department of Education is the executive department of the state charged with K-12 and adult educational budgeting, management and guidelines. As the state education agency, its activities are directed by Pennsylvania's Secretary of Education, Gerald L. Zahorchak...
- Pennsylvania Department of Environmental ProtectionPennsylvania Department of Environmental ProtectionThe Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection was established on July 1, 1995, is the agency in the U.S. State of Pennsylvania responsible for protecting and preserving the land, air, water, and energy resources through enforcement of the State's environmental laws...
- Pennsylvania Department of General ServicesPennsylvania Department of General ServicesThe Pennsylvania Department of General Services is an agency of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania that is responsible for the purchasing of goods and services for the state government. The DGS also "maintains and protects" buildings owned by the state government...
- Pennsylvania Department of HealthPennsylvania Department of Health-See also:* Health department* List of Pennsylvania state agencies-External links:*...
- Pennsylvania Department of InsurancePennsylvania Department of Insurance-External links:*...
- Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry
- Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans AffairsPennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans AffairsThe Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs was established on April 11, 1973, by the Pennsylvania General Assembly. It is overseen by the adjutant general, a cabinet-level position appointed by the Governor....
(DMVA) - Pennsylvania Department of Public WelfarePennsylvania Department of Public WelfareThe Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare is a cabinet-level state agency in Pennsylvania. The agency, based in the Health and Welfare Building in Harrisburg, provides public welfare programs and services...
- Pennsylvania Department of RevenuePennsylvania Department of RevenueThe Pennsylvania Department of Revenue is an agency of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The department is responsible for collecting all Pennsylvania taxes, including all corporate taxes and taxes on inheritance, personal income, sales and use, realty transfer, motor fuel, and all other state taxes...
- Pennsylvania Department of StatePennsylvania Department of StateThe Pennsylvania Department of State is a cabinet-level agency in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The department is headed by the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.Among the areas of responsibility are:*Campaign finance reporting*Charities...
- Pennsylvania Department of TransportationPennsylvania Department of TransportationThe Pennsylvania Department of Transportation oversees transportation issues in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The administrator of PennDOT is the Pennsylvania Secretary of Transportation, currently Barry Schoch Presently, PennDOT supports over of state roads and highways, about 25,000...
(PENNDOT) - Pennsylvania Fish and Boat CommissionPennsylvania Fish and Boat CommissionThe Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission is the state agency responsible for the regulation of all fishing and boating in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania...
- Pennsylvania Game CommissionPennsylvania Game CommissionThe Pennsylvania Game Commission is the state agency responsible for wildlife conservation and management in Pennsylvania in the United States...
- Pennsylvania Gaming Control BoardPennsylvania Gaming Control BoardThe Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board is a governmental agency of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, founded in 2004 as the state licensing and regulatory agency responsible for overseeing slot machines and casino gambling in the state....
- Pennsylvania Liquor Control BoardPennsylvania Liquor Control BoardThe Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board is an independent government agency that manages the beverage alcohol industry in Pennsylvania. It is responsible for licensing the possession, sale, storage, transportation, importation, and manufacture of wine, spirits, and malt or brewed beverages in the...
(PLCB) - Pennsylvania Historical and Museum CommissionPennsylvania Historical and Museum CommissionThe Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission is the governmental agency of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania responsible for the collection, conservation and interpretation of Pennsylvania's historic heritage...
- Pennsylvania Public Utility CommissionPennsylvania Public Utility CommissionPennsylvania Public Utility Commission is the public utility commission in Pennsylvania. It is composed of five commissioners, appointed by the Governor with the consent of the state Senate....
- Pennsylvania State PolicePennsylvania State PoliceThe Pennsylvania State Police is the state police force of Pennsylvania, responsible for statewide law enforcement. It was founded in 1905 by order of Governor Samuel Pennypacker, in response to the private police forces used by mine and mill owners to stop worker strikes and the inability or...
(PSP) - Pennsylvania Turnpike CommissionPennsylvania TurnpikeThe Pennsylvania Turnpike is a toll highway system operated by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States. The three sections of the turnpike system total . The main section extends from Ohio to New Jersey and is long...