Thomas Martin Nolan (October 24, 1916 – April 7, 1989) was an American politician from Pennsylvania who served as a Democratic member of the

Pennsylvania House of Representatives The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two-year terms from single member districts. It ...

for the 34th district from 1969 to 1970 and the

Pennsylvania State Senate The Pennsylvania State Senate is the upper house of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, the Pennsylvania state legislature. The State Senate meets in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. Senators are elected for four year terms, staggered ev ...

for the 44th district from 1971 to 1978.

Early life

Nolan was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and graduated from Central Catholic High School. He served as a corporal in the U.S. Army during World War II and was awarded the

Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, w ...

and 3

battle stars A service star is a miniature bronze or silver five-pointed star inch (4.8 mm) in diameter that is authorized to be worn by members of the eight uniformed services of the United States on medals and ribbons to denote an additional award or ser ...

Career

He represented the 34th legislative district in the

from 1969 to 1970. He was then elected to represent the 44th senatorial district in the

Pennsylvania Senate The Pennsylvania State Senate is the upper house of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, the Pennsylvania state legislature. The State Senate meets in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. Senators are elected for four year terms, staggered ev ...

in 1970. During a 1971 debate, Governor Milton Shapp's proposed a 5% state income tax. Nolan was one of two democratic holdouts in the Pennsylvania Senate. When the suggested rate was reduced to 3.5%, Nolan finally agreed to vote in favor of it. It was alleged that Nolan's brother Edward, was offered a bribe in exchange for convincing his brother to vote in favor of the tax. The matter was referred to the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

, the

Allegheny County Allegheny County () is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in Southwestern Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,250,578, making it the state's seco ...

District Attorney, and

U.S. Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal c ...

Richard Thornburgh Richard Lewis Thornburgh (July 16, 1932 – December 31, 2020) was an American lawyer, author, and Republican politician who served as the 41st governor of Pennsylvania from 1979 to 1987, and then as the United States attorney general fro ...

, but no charges were ever filed. Thom Nolan served in the Senate until 1978. He and three other defendants, including

Vince Fumo Vincent Joseph Fumo (born May 8, 1943) is a former politician, lawyer and businessman from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A Democrat, he represented a South Philadelphia district in the Pennsylvania Senate from 1978 to 2008. On March 16, 2009, he w ...

and Pete Carmiel, were accused of placing "ghost workers" on state payroll. The charges were later thrown out. He died on April 7, 1989, in Braddock, Pennsylvania and is interred at Church Hill Cemetery in Wilkins Township, Pennsylvania.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nolan, Thomas M. 1916 births 1989 deaths 20th-century American legislators United States Army personnel of World War II Democratic Party members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Military personnel from Pennsylvania Democratic Party Pennsylvania state senators Politicians from Pittsburgh United States Army soldiers Central Catholic High School (Pittsburgh) alumni