The final debate before the 2014 gubernatorial election on Nov. 4 between Democrat Tom Wolf and Republican Gov. Tom Corbett hit important issues about the future of Pennsylvania. According to a recent poll from realclearpolitics.com, Wolf is 15.5 points ahead of the incumbent Corbett. The candidates had this final time to inform voters where they stand on the issues and what they can do for the state.

Equity Tax

Corbett said that this is one topic that they actually both agree on and needs to be changed.  Data has shown that women on average earn 77 cents to every dollar a man earns. Wolf said as governor he would do his best to make sure that bills to change that gap would be passed and is absolutely something that Pa. needs.

Corbett also said that this is an issue that he and his administration are already working on and thinks he has more women on his staff than any other governor in the history of Pa.

Education

Education is one of the top issues for the candidates and the people of Pennsylvania, making it one of the top topics of the night. There has been a $1 billion cut in education funding during Corbett’s first term as governor, but said this was during former Gov. Ed Rendell’s term. The Governor said that they have worked and grown back that money with limited revenue.

Wolf retaliated that there was a decrease of about $6.4 billion to $5.3 billion in education funding during Corbett’s term and to look at the schools if there was question to not believing the figures.

The legalization of Marijuana

With the recent Marijuana legalization bills passed both for medical and recreational purposes amongst various states, this is becoming a debated issue with many Pennsylvanians. Corbett does not support the recreational use of the plant and believes this is a gateway drug to others, creating the drug problems in Pa., as well as across the United States. Corbett does and has recently supported a study done with children’s hospitals to see if and how affective the drug is.

Wolf believes that Pa. needs to legalize medical Marijuana immediately, but also supports the decriminalization of it.

With the election less than one month away, the two candidates will be in their final efforts to close the gap in the polls. Be sure to check back with RMU Sentry Media for more updates on the gubernatorial race and the live election night coverage on RMU-TV on Nov. 4.