Yudichak

Yudichak

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WILKES-BARRE — State Sen. John Yudichak and Rep. Aaron Kaufer Friday said they strongly disagree with Gov. Wolf’s veto of House Bill 1100, the Energy and Fertilizer Manufacturing Tax Credit bill.

“While I believe one hundred percent of the Commonwealth’s attention at this perilous moment must be directed toward the COVID-19 emergency response, I must strongly disagree with Gov. Wolf’s decision to veto House Bill 1100,” Yudichak, I-Swoyersville, said in a joint statement.”

House Bill 1100, introduced by Kaufer, R-Kingston, establishes an energy and fertilizer manufacturing tax credit to foster the development and construction of new petrochemical and fertilizer manufacturing plants in Pennsylvania.

The tax credit is similar to the Pennsylvania Resource Manufacturing Tax Credit program that has leveraged $6 billion in private investment in the Shell Cracker plant that has created 6,000 new jobs in Beaver County.

“The veto of House Bill 1100 places Gov. Wolf on the side of anti-job, radical environmentalists who have maliciously misrepresented the facts on this pro-worker, pro-jobs piece of legislation and places the governor’s policies squarely in opposition to legislation that has the potential to attract thousands of prevailing wage jobs and billions of dollars in private investment to Pennsylvania when we need jobs more than ever,” Yudichak said.

“We will rally as a Commonwealth and beat back the coronavirus pandemic, and when we do it will be time to get Pennsylvanians back to work by overriding Gov. Wolf’s veto of House Bill 1100.”

Kaufer added that as Pennsylvania faces economic uncertainty and job loss amid this pandemic, the governor has chosen to veto critical legislation that would have boosted our economy and provided hundreds of family-sustaining jobs.

“I am disappointed that the governor would turn his back on the opportunity to bring jobs to our region while our communities are suffering immense financial distress,” Kaufer said. “House Bill 1100 provides an opportunity for our state to curb further economic distress – sadly this opportunity was brushed aside.”

Rep. Tarah Toohil, R-Butler Township, a co-sponsor of the bill, also expressed disappointment over the governor’s veto of HB 1100.

“This legislation would have been a catalyst for significant employment growth in northeast Pennsylvania, where the economy is sorely in need of stimulus,” Toohil said. “During the current COVID-19 emergency, we are seeing significant job losses, with nearly 650,000 Pennsylvanians applying for unemployment benefits since the crisis began. This makes the governor’s veto even more puzzling, as the bill would have provided incentives to employers to build manufacturing facilities that pay family-sustaining wages.

Toohil said HB 1100 had strong, bipartisan support in both the House and Senate, and she is hopeful that same majority will now pass a veto override

GOP statement

Republican Party of Pennsylvania Chairman Lawrence Tabas released the following statement on Gov. Wolf’s veto of House Bill 1100:

“The Republican Party of Pennsylvania joins with labor and industry leaders throughout Pennsylvania to express our disappointment with Gov. Wolf’s veto of House Bill 1100. At a time when our Commonwealth and Nation are facing record high unemployment as a result of COVID-19, this decision is unfathomable. HB 1100 would cost the taxpayers zero dollars while at the same time incentivizing the creation of thousands of jobs in Pennsylvania.”

Procedurally, the General Assembly has until the end of this legislative session to override the veto of House Bill 1100.

Other voices

• “With just the first two projects, House Bill 1100 would have attracted a billion dollars in upfront capital investment, hundreds of millions of dollars in wages to construct and staff the plants, and more than 3,500 direct, indirect, and induced jobs across northern and northeastern Pennsylvania,” said David N. Taylor, President & CEO of the Pennsylvania Manufacturers’ Association. “This manufacturing industry — and the value it brings — could be the foundation of an entirely new economy, one that would provide family-sustaining jobs for generations to come. Governor Wolf’s veto of House Bill 1100 forfeits that future.”

• “House Bill 1100 spurs the exact growth our country is in desperate need of at this very critical moment in our history,” said Warren F. Faust, President, Northeast Pennsylvania Building and Construction Trades Council. “House Bill 1100 would promote manufacturing products from resources readily available right here in northeastern Pennsylvania, the very same products we are now currently importing from other countries that could and should be manufactured in the United States.”

Supporters of House Bill 1100 include the Pennsylvania Building and Construction Trades Council, the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO, the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry, the Marcellus Shale Coalition, the Pennsylvania Chemical Council, the Pennsylvania Manufacturers’ Association, the Laborer’s International Union of North America, Penn’s Northeast and many regional Chambers of Commerce in Pennsylvania.

Reach Bill O’Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.