HARRISBURG - In a move he called “the most bitterest decision of my political career,” Governor Ed Rendell furloughed Lieutenant Governor Catherine Baker Knoll this morning, hours after announcing a budget agreement that allowed twenty-four thousand state employees to return to work. The Governor said that Knoll’s furlough was a “painful, but necessary” move that should in no way be construed as a reflection of her performance during the recent budget impasse. “The fact that Catherine repeatedly called the Republican President Pro Tempore of the Senate Joseph Scarnati (R. Jefferson) 'Senator Scarface' had nothing to with her furlough. This is my own contribution to the citizens of the Commonwealth who are demanding smaller government.”
The Governor said the other members of his cabinet would pitch in to perform the work usually done by the Lieutenant Governor. “The process will be so seamless, state residents will barely know the difference.” Rendell’s move puts Knoll’s annual fact-find mission to the nether-regions of the Commonwealth at risk. This year, the Lieutenant Governor was scheduled to visit Potter County during the month of August, and deliver a full report to a joint session of the Legislature in September. “I know Catherine’s been looking forward to spending a few days in the new Target that opened in Coudersport,” said the Governor. “We’ll see if we can find the money in the general fund to ship her out there before we ship her off.”
