1. Joseph M Torsella was born on October 8,1963 and is an American politician and former diplomat, who served as the Pennsylvania Treasurer from 2017 to 2021.
44 Facts About Joe Torsella
1. 2.
Joe Torsella previously was President and CEO of the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia from 1997 to 2003 and again from 2006 to 2008.
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Joe Torsella was the Chairman of the Pennsylvania State Board of Education from 2008 through 2011.
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Joe Torsella was elected as Pennsylvania Treasurer in 2016, losing re-election in 2020 to Republican Stacy Garrity.
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Joe Torsella served as Philadelphia's Deputy Mayor for Policy and Planning for Mayor Ed Rendell from January 1992 to September 1993.
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Under Rendell, Joe Torsella developed and implemented financial and labor reforms that led the city toward a fiscal rebound that the New York Times called "one of the most stunning turnarounds in recent urban history".
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The municipal renaissance was chronicled in journalist Buzz Bissinger's book A Prayer for the City, in which Joe Torsella describes the Rendell administration's philosophy as "taking control of the government and restructuring it for effectiveness".
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In 2005, Torsella co-chaired the city of Philadelphia's bid for the 2016 Olympic Games, along with David L Cohen, executive vice president of Comcast Corp, and Olympic gold medalist Dawn Staley.
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Chicago was ultimately selected as the US Olympic bid city, but Joe Torsella continued to serve as co-chairman of the Philadelphia Olympic and International Sports Project the successor organization to Philadelphia 2016 that attracted two Olympic team trial events, table tennis and gymnastics.
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Joe Torsella returned as President and CEO of the National Constitution Center in 2006, after his successor, Richard Stengel, left to become managing editor of Time magazine.
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In 2008, Joe Torsella announced that former President Bill Clinton would replace Bush as chairman as of January 1,2009.
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On December 11,2008, Joe Torsella announced that he would be stepping down as President and CEO of the Constitution Center at the end of January 2009.
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In 2004, Joe Torsella ran for a seat in the US Congress in Pennsylvania's 13th congressional district.
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Joe Torsella received endorsements from the region's major newspapers, including the Philadelphia Inquirer, but was outspent by close to $1 million, and lost in a close Democratic Party primary to Allyson Schwartz.
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In 2009, Joe Torsella announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination in the 2010 US Senate race in Pennsylvania.
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Joe Torsella withdrew from the race after incumbent Senator Arlen Specter switched party affiliations from Republican to Democrat, citing a desire to avoid a potentially negative primary fight that would weaken Democratic chances in the November 2010 general election.
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In 2016, Joe Torsella was elected as Pennsylvania State Treasurer, beating Republican Otto Voit of Berks County.
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On November 15,2010, Joe Torsella was nominated by President Barack Obama to the position of US Representative to the United Nations for Management and Reform, with the rank of Ambassador; on January 5,2011, he was renominated after a lame duck session ended without his confirmation.
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Joe Torsella was the architect and chief public spokesperson for the Obama Administration plans, released in 2012, for reform of the $36 billion UN system.
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In 2015, Joe Torsella announced his candidacy for State Treasurer of Pennsylvania.
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On November 8,2016, Joe Torsella was elected Treasurer, defeating Republican Otto Voit III of Berks County.
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Joe Torsella was sworn in as Pennsylvania's State Treasurer on January 17,2017.
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Joe Torsella was unopposed in the Democratic primary, which was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Joe Torsella's defeat was considered to be an upset, as he possessed a sizable fundraising advantage and consistently led Garrity in polling throughout the campaign.
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Joe Torsella's first act as Treasurer was instating a formal ban on third-party placement agents.
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That same week Joe Torsella reduced the size of the Department's vehicle fleet by more than half, returning eleven vehicles to the Commonwealth.
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Joe Torsella appointed the Department's first ever Chief Integrity Officer in February 2017.
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Joe Torsella served as Pennsylvania's Inspector General under Tom Corbett's Administration.
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Joe Torsella continued his pursuit of integrity and accountability with new pre-payment auditing practices for the Treasury's Bureau of Fiscal Review.
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In June 2017, Joe Torsella led a bipartisan effort of fellow state treasurers to help protect American families and their ability to save for retirement.
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Joe Torsella became the program's first philanthropic donor in 2017, when he donated his automatic pay increase.
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Joe Torsella continues to donate his annual pay increase to Keystone Scholars.
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In 2017, Joe Torsella created the bipartisan Treasury Task Force on Private Sector Retirement Security to find ways to help the more than two million Pennsylvanians who do not have access to employee-sponsored retirement plans.
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In March 2019, Treasurer Joe Torsella released the final report of the task force.
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Joe Torsella initiated an effort to return unclaimed or abandoned military decorations to veterans and their families.
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Joe Torsella spearheaded the creation and launch of the state's first online tool to track state spending in real-time, the Transparency Portal.
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Joe Torsella has moved to hold drug manufacturers and distributors accountable for their role in the opioid epidemic.
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Joe Torsella joined more than 40 institutional investors to form the Investors for Opioid Accountability Coalition.
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In February 2021, Joe Torsella was appointed to the Pennsylvania Public School Employees' Retirement System Board of Trustees by Governor Tom Wolf.
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Joe Torsella has served as a trustee or advisor to many civic and non-profit organizations, including the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau; the Holocaust Awareness Museum; Historic Philadelphia, Inc.
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Joe Torsella has written widely on historical and contemporary issues, with some of his work published in the [null New York Times], the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Cleveland Plain Dealer, and the Miami Herald.
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Joe Torsella is a sought-after public speaker, and has appeared frequently in national broadcast media, including appearances on ABC World News Tonight, Good Morning America, and The Colbert Report.
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In 1994, Joe Torsella developed the Spaghetti Smock, a linen bib for adults.
44.
Since 2023, Joe Torsella has taken a few acting roles in short films and an episode of The Mega-Brands That Built America.