Featured Speakers
Patrick M. Browne
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.
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.
Uri Monson
Governor Josh Shapiro appointed Uri Monson to serve as the Secretary of the Budget in January of 2023. Monson grew up in Philadelphia and has served in a variety of public service roles for nearly 30 years.
Secretary Monson previously served as Deputy Superintendent of Operations and Chief Financial Officer for the School District of Philadelphia. During his time there, the School District of Philadelphia improved its fiscal outlook to allow for a return to local City control and achieve an investment level credit rating for the first time since 1977.
Monson also served as the Chief Financial Officer of Montgomery County, PA; Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority; and as Assistant Budget Director for the City of Philadelphia. Prior to returning to Philadelphia, he worked for the US Department of Education in Washington, DC as a Congressional Liaison and as a policy analyst and program manager for the Office of Postsecondary Education.
Monson began his public service through the Presidential Management Internship (PMI) Program, when he served as a program analyst at the US Department of Education and worked in the Office of the Vice President of the United States and the New York City Office of the Superintendent for Alternative High School Programs.
Monson earned a master’s degree in Public Policy from the Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs and a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Columbia University, as well as a bachelor’s degree in Midrash from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America.
Monson is an active member of his synagogue, served as a Vice President and Treasurer of Camp Ramah in the Poconos, and is a former President of the Philadelphia Committee on City Policy. He was named as a person to watch in Philadelphia Magazine’s 2009 “Best of Philly” Issue and cited as the top “Wonk” in the City. Monson currently resides in Wynnewood, PA with his wife and three children.