By Christen Smith
Staff Reporter
Capitolwire
HARRISBURG (June 8) — Senate Republicans rejected Col. Marcus Brown’s nomination Monday on a vote of 22-26, just hours after Gov. Tom Wolf recalled the would-be Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner “to allow time for additional discussion.”
Except, as Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman, R-Centre, said, his caucus members knew all they needed to know to decide Brown’s fate.
All, with the exception of three — Sens. Pat Vance, R-Cumberland, Stewart Greenleaf, R-Montgomery, and Dominic Pileggi, R-Delaware — voted against Brown, citing his “judgment” in a handful of controversies ranging from his decision to wear the state trooper uniform to the legality of a pension payout he received from the city of Baltimore in 2007.
Wolf, in a statement issued an hour and a half before the Senate began debating Brown’s nomination, said he stands behind his appointee and hoped the chamber would honor his recall, as has been done under the last three administrations.
“He (Wolf) wanted to renominate him,” Corman told reporters after the floor vote Monday. “That doesn’t do us any good. The state police need stability. They need to know who their leader is.”
“The Senate takes this very seriously and I think we demonstrated that throughout this process of confirmation,” said President Pro Tempore Sen. Joe Scarnati, R-Jefferson. “There is a constitutional role and the Senate has spoken clearly that this nominee does not have support of confirmation in the Senate.”
The vote landed Senate lawmakers in “fairly uncharted waters” Monday. The chamber last rejected a governor’s nominee in 1992 with Acting Insurance Commissioner Cynthia Maleski.
Maleski, according to a November 1992 Philadelphia Inquirer article, came under fire from the Republican-led Senate for her role in approving a 24-percent rate increase for worker’s compensation.
Then-Gov. Robert Casey accused the Senate of “partisan, short-sighted, narrow-minded, vindictive politics” and resubmitted her nomination in January 1993, during the first week of the new session. She was confirmed the following month.
Corman said he hopes Wolf will submit a new candidate for the position, though the governor says he stands behind Brown and will retain him as Acting State Police Commissioner.
“It is disappointing that the Senate decided to move forward and not honor Governor Wolf’s recall, as they have done historically,” said Jeff Sheridan, Wolf’s spokesman. “Governor Wolf remains committed to Col. Brown and he will remain as acting commissioner.”
Senate Democrats took turns Monday shaming Republicans for honoring “outside special interests” concerned with protecting the agency’s rumored “good ole’ boys network” and ignoring Brown’s qualifications for the position.
“You will never find the best when you are always looking for the worst,” said Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa, D-Allegheny, during the floor debate, calling Brown’s defeat “a missed opportunity.”
Senate Democrats argued Brown’s reputation for diversifying state police ranks was the real issue for his detractors – not his decision to wear the trooper uniform.
In the aftermath, Costa reiterated his faith in Brown to lead the state police effectively.
“I think Marcus Brown is somebody who is capable of looking beyond the type of things that happened today,” he said. “I think he is capable of being a strong leader. This is not the first time in his career, he indicated, that he had to deal with issues because he made tough decisions and tough choices.”
The Pennsylvania State Troopers Association asked the governor to recall Brown’s nomination in March, in the wake of the acting commissioner’s removal of critical signs from public property near his home in Cumberland County. Senate Republicans followed suit with their own recall request — one the governor did not honor until Monday morning.
If Wolf had withdrawn Brown’s nomination entirely, the Senate would have complied with his recall request, said Corman.
Joseph R. Kovel, president of the state troopers association, issued a statement Monday thanking Senate Republicans for their negative votes.
“There have been a number of issues that have caused our members to question whether Mr. Brown was the right person for the job,” he said. “This was unquestionably the right decision.”
Kovel called the administration’s decision to retain Brown as acting commissioner “disheartening,” saying the association’s members “continue to believe that Mr. Brown does not embody the strength of character, leadership and integrity that the head of the Pennsylvania State Police should demonstrate.”
“Now, more than ever, the Pennsylvania State Police requires an unquestioned chain of command, not political controversy,” he said. “The administration should move quickly to identify a candidate who possesses a solid reputation that everyone can support.”
Scarnati echoed the association’s concerns, saying it would be hard for Brown to lead the agency without the “respect, trust or support of those you’re leading.”
Sen. Scott Wagner, R-York, who told Brown last week he wouldn’t support his nomination, said Wolf’s decision “ignores the will of the Senate.”
“While Senator Wagner is pleased that the Governor has chosen to recall Marcus Brown’s nomination, he is very concerned about the decision to retain him as Acting State Police Commissioner,” said Jason High, Wagner’s chief of staff. “The primary opposition to Marcus Brown has been driven by his inability to lead the Pennsylvania State Police effectively. The decision to leave him in place not only makes it even harder for him to lead.”
The administration, so far, stands behind Brown.
“Governor Wolf has full faith in Col. Brown’s ability to lead the State Police,” Sheridan said.
