Jake Corman

Jacob Doyle Corman III (born September 9, 1964) is a Republican member and the Majority Leader of the Pennsylvania State Senate; he has represented the 34th Senatorial District since 1999. The district includes all of Centre, Mifflin and Juniata Counties and portions of Huntingdon County, and includes State College.

Jake Corman
Majority Leader of the Pennsylvania Senate
Assumed office
January 6, 2015
Preceded byDominic Pileggi
Member of the Pennsylvania Senate
from the 34th district
Assumed office
January 7, 1999
Preceded byDoyle Corman
Personal details
Born
Jacob Doyle Corman III

(1964-09-09) September 9, 1964
Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouse(s)Kelli Lopsonzski
Children3
EducationPennsylvania College of
Technology
Pennsylvania State University,
University Park (BA)
WebsiteOfficial website

Personal

Corman is a graduate of Bellefonte Area High School, the Pennsylvania College of Technology where he earned an associate degree in Communications and The Pennsylvania State University where he received a BA degree in Journalism.

He was State Director for Central Pennsylvania for United States Senator Rick Santorum from 1994 through 1998.[1] He was Field Service Director for the Pennsylvania Builders Association from 1993 through 1994.[1]

Career

In 1998, Corman's father, Doyle Corman, a Pennsylvania State Senator for 21 years, announced his retirement from the Senate. Corman announced that he would run for his father's seat. During the three-way GOP primary, Corman was attacked by the other candidates for a 1995 drunk driving conviction, as well as his admission to experimenting with marijuana in the 1980s.[2] Despite the minor controversy, Corman prevailed and went on to defeat Democrat Scott Conklin (now a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives) in the general election.

In 2002, Corman was re-elected with over 92% of the vote, facing only minimal opposition from a Libertarian Party candidate.[3] In 2006, Corman defeated Democrat Jon Eich, Robert J. Cash, and Libertarian Thomas Martin with 56% of the vote.[4] After the leadership shakeup following the 2006 elections, Corman bid for the position of Senate Majority Leader, but was edged out by Dominic Pileggi [5] and was ultimately elected as the Majority Policy Chairman, succeeding Joe Scarnati.

In November 2008, Corman was elected by his caucus to serve as Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

The Pennsylvania Report named him to the 2009 "The Pennsylvania Report 100" list of influential figures in Pennsylvania politics and called him of the state's "rising stars."[6]

In 2010, Corman again defeated Democrat Jon Eich for re-election garnering 69.4% of the vote.[7]

In 2014 and 2016, Corman was unopposed for re-election.[8] In 2018, he again won re-election after defeating Democrat Ezra Nanes by more than 10,500 votes.[9]

In November 2014, Corman was elected by his caucus to serve in the position of Senate Majority Leader for the 2015–2016 legislative session.[10]

Political positions

In 2017, Corman sponsored Senate Bill 1, legislation to overhaul and modernize Pennsylvania's pension system and limit future financial risks for taxpayers. Act 5 has been hailed nationally as “one of the most comprehensive and impactful reforms any state has implemented” and a catalyst for the “biggest turnaround in contribution adequacy nationwide.”[11]

In 2013, Senator Corman introduced and pressed for passage of the Endowment Act, which reversed NCAA sanctions against Penn State and directed $60 million to be used in Pennsylvania to help victims of child sexual abuse. These efforts also included the establishment of programs to bring sex abuse education training to elementary schools across the Commonwealth.[11]

While Corman voted for Pennsylvania's medical cannabis program, he is against both the decriminalization and legalization of cannabis in Pennsylvania. He believes cannabis is a gateway drug.[12][13] He stated that: "I will do everything in my power to prevent legalization of recreational marijuana."[14] He has indicated that it's a larger policy discussion, likening the move to the state's process to legalize gambling, which took years.[15]

In 2018, Senator Corman introduced a bill that would become the Timothy J. Piazza Anti-Hazing Law (Senate Bill 1090) – a plan to strengthen anti-hazing laws nationwide by emphasizing prevention, enforcement and transparency. It was signed into law later that year as Act 80. The law increases penalties for those involved in hazing; requires schools to have policies and reporting procedures in place to stop hazing; ensures that parents and students are provided with information related to the issue; and creates safe harbor provisions so students know they can call for help without fear of prosecution.[16]

As part of the 2018–19 budget process, Corman stated that school safety funding was the Senate Republican Caucus's "number one priority" in the budget. In the end, $70 million in funding was included in the budget for schools to improve safety for students with a committee being established within the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency to assess the needs of each district that applies for funding.[17]

In June 2019, Senator Corman made national headlines for aggressively yelling over State Senator Katie Muth, as she read into record a letter from formerly homeless resident John Boyd, who encouraged representatives to not take away monthly General Assistance funds from him and other vulnerable citizens.[18]

References
  1. "Project Vote Smart - Senator Jacob Doyle 'Jake' Corman, III (PA)". Project Vote Smart.
  2. John Stabinger (1998-06-12). "Corman, Conklin left standing for 34th State Senatorial District race" (PDF). The Daily Collegian. Retrieved 2020-02-22.
  3. Pennsylvania Department of State, Election Returns, 11/5/2002 Archived 2008-05-15 at the Wayback Machine
  4. Pennsylvania Department of State, Election Returns, 11/7/2006 Archived 2008-05-29 at the Wayback Machine
  5. Neri, Al (November 2006). "One last thing". The Insider. Archived from the original on 2007-10-13. Retrieved 2008-06-08.
  6. "PA Report 100" (PDF). Pennsylvania Report. Capital Growth, Inc. January 23, 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 14, 2009.
  7. Pennsylvania Department of State, Election Returns, 11/2/2010
  8. Pennsylvania Department of State, Election Returns, 11/4/2014
  9. Rushton, Geoff (November 7, 2018). "Corman Re-elected to State Senate". StateCollege.com. Retrieved February 16, 2020.
  10. "Corman, Scarnati to lead Pa. Senate Republicans". PennLive.com. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
  11. Mennis, Greg (December 14, 2017). "Pennsylvania's Historic Pension Reforms". The Pew Charitable Trusts. Retrieved 2019-05-07.
  12. Levy, Marc (January 24, 2019). "Pennsylvania wants to hear from you on legalizing marijuana". The Morning Call. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  13. Orso, Anna (March 25, 2015). "State GOP chief Jake Corman on a higher minimum wage, medical marijuana and why he loves Uber (Q&A)". Billy Penn. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  14. Cole, John (December 21, 2018). "PA Senate Majority Leader Says He Will Do "Everything" In His Power To Prevent Legalized Recreational Use of Marijuana". Politics PA. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  15. Baer, John (February 12, 2019). "Pa.'s statewide pot tour: Exercise in democracy or puffed-up political show?". philly.com. Retrieved 2019-05-07.
  16. "Anti-hazing law named for Penn State student heads to governor". The Sentinel. Associated Press. October 15, 2018. Retrieved 2019-05-07.
  17. McGoldrick, Gillian (June 22, 2018). "Pa. approves $60 million for school safety". philly.com. Harrisburg. Retrieved 2019-05-07.
  18. Gstalter, Morgan (June 28, 2019). "GOP Pennsylvania lawmaker yells over Dem reading letter from former homeless man in viral video". The Hill. Retrieved 2019-06-28.
Pennsylvania State Senate
Preceded by
Doyle Corman		 Member of the Pennsylvania Senate
from the 34th district
1999–present		 Incumbent
Preceded by
Dominic Pileggi		 Majority Leader of the Pennsylvania Senate
2015–present
Party political offices
Preceded by
Dominic Pileggi		 Republican Leader of the Pennsylvania Senate
2015–present		 Incumbent
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