On January 12, 2023, Governor Josh Shapiro nominated Patrick M. Browne as the Secretary of Revenue. Browne has had a long career in public service, including nearly three decades as an elected official in the Pennsylvania legislature, representing Lehigh and Northampton counties.
Browne, an Allentown native, served as a Republican member of the Pennsylvania State Senate for the 16th District from 2005 to 2022. He was first elected to the Senate following a special election in April of 2005 and served for 18 years until November 2022. Prior to joining the Senate, Browne represented the 131st District for 10 years as a member of the state House of Representatives. During his service in the Senate, he was elected by his colleagues in the Senate Republican Caucus to serve as Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman for four consecutive legislative sessions from 2014-22. The committee, the most powerful of the Senate's standing committees, reviews all legislation for its fiscal impact and plays a crucial role in developing the state budget.
Browne was the author of dozens of initiatives ranging from job creation to education to reforming state government. He wrote several laws which fundamentally reformed Pennsylvania's public pension systems and created an independent fiscal office to monitor state spending and the budget process. He led in rewriting both the Pennsylvania Basic Education and Special Education funding formulas. Browne also was the Founding Chairman of the Early Childhood Education Caucus and the Arts and Culture Caucus. He has received national recognition for his Early Childhood advocacy and was widely acknowledged to be Pennsylvania's leading proponent.
In 2009, Browne crafted legislation that created the one-of-a-kind, 130-acre Neighborhood Improvement Zone (NIZ) to help revitalize and expand the tax base of the then financially struggling city of Allentown. There has already been more than $1 billion of new development investment in Allentown and more than $13 million in annual school property tax revenues for Allentown School District generated through the zone. The NIZ has served as a model for economic development in other distressed areas – cities, boroughs and townships – throughout the Commonwealth with the creation of the City Revitalization and Improvement Zones (CRIZ) which afford a similar tax financing program to smaller cities in Pennsylvania.
Prior to being elected to public office, Browne worked as Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and attorney. He was a tax manager for Coopers and Lybrand from 1990 to 1994 and a tax supervisor for Price Waterhouse from 1986 to 1990.
Browne graduated from Allentown Central Catholic High School in 1982. He received his Bachelor of Arts in business administration/accounting from the University of Notre Dame, and a juris doctorate from Temple University School of Law.
Browne resides in Allentown with his wife, Heather, and their son, Alex.