HARRISBURG - Governor Tom Corbett and Lt. Governor Jim Cawley announced "Farm Families for Corbett-Cawley" at the annual Pennsylvania Farm Show, joined by Congressmen Joe Pitts and GT Thompson, PA Ag Republicans Chairman Mike Firestine and Farm Families for Corbett-Cawley Chairman Keith Eckel. Farm Families for Corbett-Cawley will organize and activate members around the state in support of Governor Corbett's record of keeping his promises to fight for Pennsylvania's farming families and agricultural community.

Governor Corbett continues to support our farming communities as Pennsylvania's #1 industry, a world-leading agricultural sector that supports 63,000 family farms, employs 1-in-7 Pennsylvanians and generates more than $67 billion in economic impact. Governor Corbett eliminated the "death tax" on family farms, streamlined the vehicle code and secured a bipartisan, comprehensive transportation funding plan to repair our infrastructure, and enacted common sense reforms to update potato packaging laws and protect extended growing seasons from real estate taxes. Governor Corbett gave the PA Preferred trademark permanent status to promote commodities produced in our backyard and has increased and maximized funding for the Farm Show, county fairs and farmland preservation. He has also supported Pennsylvania's commitment to the Food Purchase Program and agricultural innovation and research. As Attorney General, Tom Corbett supported the passage of and enforced the Agriculture, Communities and Rural Environment Act (ACRE) to ensure farmers maintain their right to farm under the law and strike down illegal farming restrictions.

-- Farm Families for Corbett-Cawley Leadership --

-- Chairman --

Keith Eckel

Sole Proprietor and President of Fred W. Eckel Sons Farms, Inc.

Clarks Summit, PA

Bio

-- Honorary Co-Chairs --

The Honorable Elder Vogel, Jr.

Chairman of the Pennsylvania Senate Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee

Official Bio

The Honorable John Maher

Chairman of the Pennsylvania House Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee

Official Bio

Governor Corbett and Lieutenant Governor Cawley continue to deliver on the “More Jobs, Less Taxes” agenda laid out in the 2010 campaign, keeping their promises to make government work harder and smarter for the people, reduce and eliminate taxes, balance our budgets on-time, hold the line on new taxes, empower the private sector to grow and create jobs by reopening Pennsylvania to business, responsibly use the once-in-a-generation opportunity our Commonwealth has in the Marcellus Shale to create and support jobs, reinvest in our communities and reduce energy costs, bolster support for our most vulnerable and invest historic amounts in basic education.

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