Workforce

Two Northeast Pennsylvania lawmakers led the charge to enact a local resource tax credit for manufacturers who use methane (natural gas) to make fertilizer, fuel, and other products. If approved by Governor Tom Wolf, thousands of workers and their families will owe a great debt of gratitude to state Sen. John Yudichak (I-Luzerne/Carbon) and state Rep. Aaron Kaufer (R-Luzerne).

Pressure grows daily on the Wolf administration to reveal its rationale, if any exists, behind a waiver process that classifies some businesses as “essential,” but forces others to close during the coronavirus emergency.

The secrecy surrounding the selection process by the governor’s Department of Community and Economic Development is adding fuel to a rebellion among some counties, with only small pockets of the coronavirus, to transition into the governor’s “yellow” reopening phase and save some businesses and family-sustaining jobs from catastrophic failure.

Late Friday, the Mexican government announced that it would reopen its automotive factories, which it had earlier closed as “non-essential” businesses during the COVID-19 crisis. The news came on the heels of letter sent by over 300 members of the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) to Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador warning that shuttered automotive plants and other “essential manufacturing facilities” could imperil the entire North American supply chain.

Vice President Mike Pence visited one of Northeast Pennsylvania’s long-time manufacturers, Schott Advanced Optics in Duryea, urging congressional approval of a trade agreement with Canada and Mexico, the USMCA. U.S. manufacturers have thrown their full weight behind the negotiated agreement; it will add billions to the economy and create thousands of high paying manufacturing jobs.

Left behind in last week’s approval of the state budget are needed reforms to the business tax and regulatory structure that would help Pennsylvania take full advantage of an unrelenting surge in the nation’s economy. America just broke the record of 120 months of sustained growth thanks to the federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, and massive regulatory reform by the Trump Administration. Pennsylvania is missing out on opportunities, however, as businesses rush back into the country to invest in the substantially improved business climate.

In preparing his budget proposal, Governor Tom Wolf apparently missed, or conveniently ignored, news reports of the January U.S. job totals.

A CNBC headline will suffice as a reminder: “Payrolls surge by 304,000, smashing estimates despite government shutdown.”

Economists discussing the record job numbers did not credit higher taxes, (energy taxes included), a higher minimum wage, or costly changes in the way businesses file taxes. In an exhausting repeat of past budget proposals, says David N. Taylor, PMA President & CEO, the governor wants all three.

What’s going on with the Tresco Paving Company, an open shop contractor in Westmoreland County, is sadly emblematic of a culture in Pennsylvania that has us languishing near the bottom in an annual economic competitiveness ranking, Rich States, Poor States, by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).