Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. Jim Cawley stopped by the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center in Oakland on Tuesday. Without getting into specifics, Cawley thanked employees for helping make Pittsburgh and Pennsylvania competitive in the technological arena.
"Technology and research play a significant, if not critical, role in creating opportunities and fostering that robust economy that we all want and need," he said.
Cawley said the state has invested $34 million in the supercomputing center since its inception in 1986. After noting the technology hubs that have sprung up in and near the Bakery Square development in Larimer, as well as in Oakland, he quickly transitioned to hotly contested campaign issue: education funding.
Cawley called the idea that his running mate, Gov. Tom Corbett, had cut funding to education a "damned lie" and spoke of their commitment to educating the next generation of leaders in technology.
The FY 2014-15 budget signed in July calls for $5.5 billion for basic education, which is nearly $300 million less than Gov. Rendell's final budget (FY 2010-11). However, that appropriation was boosted by $650 million in temporary federal stimulus funding.
