Pennsylvania Governor Corbett's Spokesman Releases Statement on Latino-Hispanic Interview

HARRISBURG, Pa., May 22, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Governor Tom Corbett's spokesman, Kevin Harley, released the following statement today regarding misinformation circulating about the governor's comments during an interview with a Latino-Hispanic newspaper last Friday.

"This is just another attempt by a liberal blog in Washington D.C. to malign the governor by taking comments out of context made during an hour-long interview with 'Al Dia' newspaper, based in Philadelphia.''  

"During an hour-long interview with the editors of 'Al Dia,' Governor Corbett discussed issues facing the Latino-Hispanic community in Pennsylvania and nationwide, the governor answered questions and discussed issues, including his desire to ensure his administration represented all of the various communities in Pennsylvania," Harley said.

"This is just another attempt by an extreme, left-wing blog to malign Governor Tom Corbett," Harley said.

This was the second time in recent weeks that "ThinkProgress,'' a liberal left-wing blog, has taken the governor's comments, made during interviews with the media, out of context for political purposes and did not use his entire statement.

Its website boasts of winning awards for "the best liberal blog.''

This group's latest attempt to discredit the governor came during an hour-long interview with the editors and reporters of the 'Al Dia' newspaper. The governor spoke about his recent trade mission trip to South America and bringing jobs to Pennsylvania.

When asked about the number of Latinos working on his staff during the interview, Corbett said, "None, right now.'' However, Corbett was referring to his immediate staff which consists of a handful of people.

The facts are that Corbett has appointed numerous Latino-Hispanics in his administration cabinet, including Dr. Eli Avila, who served as Secretary of the Department of Health, as well as boards and commissions.

Early in his administration, Corbett named Maria Montero as director of the Governor's Advisory Commission on Latino Affairs (GACLA) as an advocate for its Latino community. The 25-member advisory commission is comprised of Latino-Hispanics from across the state.

GACLA makes recommendations to the governor on policies, procedures and legislation that would affect the Latino-Hispanic community in Pennsylvania and serves as the governor's liaison to Latino-Hispanics in order to ensure that state government is accessible and accountable to their community.

"I meet with the governor to talk about important issues in the Latino-Hispanic community,'' Montero said. "He is 100 percent supportive of Latino-Hispanic leadership and is very interested in keeping an open pipeline with increasing the number of Latino-Hispanics who serve in state government at all levels. There are nearly 1,500 Latino-Hispanics working in the Corbett administration.

"More importantly, education is a key focus of GACLA. The governor is supportive of all GACLA's efforts in helping increase high school graduation rates,'' Montero said.

In addition, Ken Trujillo, was nominated by the governor as commissioner for the Liquor Control Board. His nomination, however, was blocked by Senate Democrats.

Media contact:  Kevin Harley, 717-783-1116

SOURCE Pennsylvania Office of the Governor