Dive Brief:

• According to state documents, Ron Tomalis —​ Gov. Tom Corbett's former special adviser on higher education who worked primarily on K-12-centric projects, never had an employment contract with the state, nor did the governor's office or state Department of Education ever acknowledge employing him.
• The documents were obtained through a Right-to-Know request, filed by gubernatorial candidate Tom Wolf's Fresh Start campaign.  
• Tomalis made waves in August, sparking a resignation, when news broke about his plush $140,000 salary and unclear responsibilities.  

Dive Insight:

This probably will not bode well for Corbett, whose team had to tell the Fresh Start campaign repeatedly that they didn't have important paperwork like Tomalis' contract. It will be interesting to see if Pennsylvania Auditor General Eugene DePasquale, who initiated an investigation into the state Department of Education's spending and contracting practices, finds anything more.

When education budgets are already so tight, hiring (with a contract or not) extraneous bodies for busy work is not going to win over a lot of fans.