PA Manufacturers Association Endorses Tim DeFoor
PMA PAC, the affiliated political action committee of the Pennsylvania Manufacturers’ Association, is proud to endorse Tim DeFoor for reelection as Pennsylvania’s Auditor General.
Pennsylvania is competing globally for investment, jobs, and economic growth. Electing public officials who embrace pro-growth policies is paramount to improving Pennsylvania’s competitiveness. With his focus on streamlining government, workforce development, and financial literacy, Tim understands that Harrisburg needs to act to make it the smart business decision for employers to locate, expand, and hire in Pennsylvania.
Founded in 1909 by Bucks County industrialist Joseph Grundy, the Pennsylvania Manufacturers’ Association is the Harrisburg-based statewide nonprofit trade association representing the $100 billion manufacturing sector in Pennsylvania’s public policy process. PMA’s mission is to improve Pennsylvania’s economic competitiveness by advancing pro-growth public policies that reduce the baseline costs of creating and keeping jobs in the commonwealth, including spending restraint, tax relief, limits on lawsuit abuse, regulatory reform, and ensuring a prepared workforce. Learn more: www.pamanufacturers.org.
Wilkes-Barre, PA – Auditor General Timothy L. DeFoor today highlighted the need for PennDOT to implement process improvements for its bridge inspections, especially those bridges rated in overall poor condition or in critical or imminent risk of failing. “I am here to tell you as an auditor that processes matter,” Auditor General DeFoor said. “It’s important for our safety and the investment of our tax dollars that all bridge inspection reports are consistent, filed on time and the qualifications of the teams doing the inspections are readily available. By implementing the process improvements identified by our auditors, PennDOT can provide consistent reporting that ensures these bridges can be maintained, repaired and replaced without having a major bridge failure.” Auditor General DeFoor said that a bridge rated in overall poor condition does not mean that it is about to fail and that steps need to be taken to repair or replace the bridge, but it can still be used safely while that process is ongoing. The audit had three objectives: Determine the process for inspecting state-owned bridges identified as having the Overall Condition of Poor; Evaluate whether PennDOT complied with applicable laws, regulations, standards, policies and procedures, and guidelines regarding inspecting bridges identified as being in an Overall Condition of Poor; and Determine and evaluate compliance with PennDOT’s policies and procedures for responding to bridges identified as having the Condition Rating of Critical, Imminent Failure and Failed. The audit has seven findings and made 24 recommendations. The findings and recommendations focused around ensuring PennDOT consistently followed its policies and procedures regarding the timing, writing and information included in the bridge inspection reports. “There is a path forward to correct these issues, and for the most part, PennDOT agreed,” Auditor General DeFoor said. “PennDOT is working to reduce the number of bridges in poor condition by repairing or replacing them as time and tax dollars allow.” Pennsylvania has the third-largest number of bridges in the nation and PennDOT is responsible for the inspection of roughly 25,400 state-owned bridges. State-owned bridges are on averrage more than 50 years old. During the audit period from July 1, 2020, through May 10, 2023, nearly $1.2 billion dollars of taxpayer dollars were allocated to rehab and replace them.
HARRISBURG: Pennsylvania Auditor General Tim DeFoor announced the launch of his re-election campaign. Elected in 2020, DeFoor was the first African American to win statewide office in Pennsylvania. Tim has prioritized making the office more efficient and audits more impactful. DeFoor released the following statement: "As Auditor General, I have delivered on my promise to do the job as intended, free of political and partisan influence. "By incorporating the latest technology, we have streamlined the auditing process and focused our work on a risk-based approach." "But there is more work to accomplish, which is why I am running for re-election for Pennsylvania Auditor General. "While my first term has focused on improving and transforming the office, the next four years will be about finishing what we started and ensuring that our work on behalf of the taxpayers is executed to the highest professional auditing standards. I am committed to doing the job of Auditor General in a non-partisan way, something that I do not take lightly. Politicizing the office in any way would be doing a disservice to the taxpayers of this great Commonwealth. The Pennsylvania Fiscal Code, which enables the Department to do its work, does not state the Republican Auditor General does one thing while the Democrat Auditor General does another; it simply states the Auditor General shall audit the debtors of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania." Tim DeFoor was elected Pennsylvania Auditor General in 2020. A native of Dauphin County, Tim has over thirty years of experience as a Special Investigator with Pennsylvania's Office of Inspector General, as a Special Agent with Pennsylvania's Attorney General and in the private sector and federal government as a Fraud Investigator, Auditor, Internal Auditor, Audit Quality Manager. Before assuming the office of Pennsylvania Auditor General, Tim served as Dauphin County Controller from 2016 to 2020. Under Tim's leadership, the Auditor General's office has focused on transforming the office in various ways, which include: how the Department recruits and retains employees; how it audits, making the work more efficient and effective for the taxpayers; and how it is building the next generation, focusing on the need for financial literacy education to be taught across the entire Commonwealth through the 'Be Money Smart' initiative. Tim has transformed and improved how the Auditor General's office conducts public and charter school audits to ensure that administrators and school boards are accountable and transparent with taxpayer dollars. DeFoor is a lifelong Dauphin County resident and a Susquehanna Township High School graduate. DeFoor holds an associate degree in paralegal studies from Harrisburg Area Community College. He also graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a bachelor's degree in psychology and earned a second bachelor's degree in sociology and history. DeFoor earned a master's in project management from Harrisburg University of Science and Technology.