James F. Cawley wants to be Pennsylvania's lieutenant governor for several reasons, but the most important is that it's his home.

"I'm a lifelong Pennsylvanian," the Republican Bucks County commissioner said Tuesday in an interview at The Republican-Herald's Pottsville office. "I care deeply about this state. I believe Pennsylvania is broken."

Cawley, who marched this year in Girardville's St. Patrick's Day Parade, is one of nine candidates seeking the GOP nomination for lieutenant governor in the May 18 Primary Election. He will be facing fellow Republicans Steve Johnson, Jean Craige Pepper, Russ Diamond, Chet Beiler, Billy McCue, John Kennedy, Stephen A. Urban and Daryl Metcalfe on the ballot in the May 18 Primary Election, according to the Pennsylvania Department of State.

The winner will team with either state Attorney General Tom Corbett, who once taught in the Pine Grove Area School District, or former Berks County state Representative Sam Rohrer to take on the Democratic nominees.

Democratic candidates to appear on the ballot include Doris A. Smith-Ribner, H. Scott Conklin and Jonathan A. Saidel, according to the state department.

The state Republican Committee has endorsed Corbett and Cawley.

"I do have faith in Tom's message," Cawley said. "For him ... it's really about his children and their children."

Cawley sees three main goals he wants to help Corbett reach: restoring trust in government, forcing government to live within its means and partnering with the private sector to create jobs.

"People just don't trust their government anymore. People know that they've been lied to," Cawley said.

He wants to end the practice of "walking around money," also known as WAMs, which legislators use to fund special projects in their own districts, and to require legislators to submit vouchers and receipts for all their expenses.

As for budgeting, Cawley dislikes the growth of state spending under Gov. Ed Rendell, a Democrat who cannot run for a third term under Pennsylvania's Constitution. Cawley said spending has risen 40 percent during Rendell's administration, and that the governor's latest proposal for more new taxes and another budget increase is wrong.

"Government has got to live within its means," Cawley said. "We've got to bring a mentality to Harrisburg that's completely different."

He said his record in Bucks County - four years of no tax hikes, two years of budget cuts, a $48 million increase in the fund balance and the highest bond rating in the county's history - proves he can make good fiscal decisions.

He comes down squarely on the side of state Sen. David Argall, R-29, who chairs a cost-cutting panel and was verbally attacked by Rendell during the governor's visit Monday to Pottsville.

"You can't tell me there's not waste, fraud and abuse. I think Dave Argall's a truth-teller," Cawley said.

One area that will be scrutinized is the Department of Public Welfare, because Rendell has reversed the welfare reforms implemented by Dick Thornburg and Tom Ridge during their gubernatorial terms, according to Cawley.

"There's going to be a very close examination of the DPW," Cawley said. "Our welfare rolls have ballooned and ballooned."

Cawley said he and Corbett want to introduce two-year budgeting to Harrisburg, adding that his experience as a county commissioner has made him aware of the benefits of knowing well in advance how much money will be available.

"It would help us to better manage the people's money," he said.

Also needed is a reduction in the state's vehicle fleet, said Cawley, who helped to implement a similar measure as county commissioner.

Cawley also said the state needs to do a better job partnering with private businesses, which he said really create jobs. Government creates bureaucracy, not jobs, he said.

One measure a Corbett/Cawley administration will implement is an overhaul of the corporate tax structure that discourages job creation.

"We're not going to do just niche things," Cawley said.