But where's his jobs plan?

DID YOU KNOW that more than 516,000 Pennsylvanians are unemployed right now - that's enough to fill Citizens Bank Park almost 12 times - and the state's unemployment rate is climbing? Regardless of where I'm at in Pennsylvania, I continually hear about one issue: jobs, or more accurately, the lack of jobs and the fact that the Corbett administration and the Republican-controlled House and Senate haven't made job-creation and strengthening our economy a priority. Here's what they're focused on:

* Changing how electoral votes in the commonwealth are apportioned so that they can win more elections;

* Restricting abortions;

* Making English Pennsylvania's official language;

* Restricting who can and cannot vote; and

* A handful of other issues that support only the Republicans' national agenda.

What's worse is that their harsh new budget is eliminating jobs and not creating them. For example, more than 14,000 jobs in education have been lost because the governor slashed education funding, and hundreds of millions for job-training has been deleted from the budget.

Gov. Corbett is a reputable man, but he's either tone-deaf to the plight of the unemployed or unwilling to make the effort to create a jobs program that will move our economy forward. Sadly, he is pandering to the far right, and not making jobs and economic development an issue. Where is his comprehensive package to get Pennsylvanians back to work? And when will he get his priorities right? I don't know, either, but enough is enough!

We Senate Democrats have our priorities right.

We've offered a comprehensive plan called PA Works, which would create tens of thousands of jobs, leverage billions in private investment and create new employment opportunities.

Our plan injects new capital into business startups, refreshes initiatives that help industry invest in machinery and equipment, and channels job-training money into work opportunities for the long-term unemployed. As important, the PA Works plan creates a new way to invest billions in the infrastructure so our roads, bridges, water and sewer systems are state-of-the-art without new taxes or additional taxpayer burdens. (If you want to learn more about PA Works, please visit .)

Jobs are my top priority. Jobs are the Senate Democrats' top priority. And jobs during the worst recession since the Great Depression should be Gov. Corbett's and the Republican leadership's top priority.