NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. – Improving roads, infrastructure and pulling back regulations that stifle businesses and growth were among the accomplishments legislators touted Thursday at Forward Lawrence’s third annual State of the County event.
State Sen. Michele Brooks, R-50th, said preventing increases in personal income taxes and the gradual phased reduction of the corporate income tax, which was the highest in the country, as well as getting rid of regulatory hurdles, were some of the ways legislators have been working to improve Pennsylvania for businesses.
Forward Lawrence members heard from Brooks, state Sen. Elder Vogel, R-47th, and state Reps. Marla Brown, R-9th, and Aaron Bernstine, R-8th, as well as other elected officials at the event held on the Westminster College campus.
“Advocating on behalf of the business community has become a larger part of the work we do here at Forward Lawrence,” said Lyndsey Overby, director of the Lawrence County Regional Chamber of Commerce. “Forward Lawrence’s role is to understand the obstacles our industries face, help remove the barriers and red tape holding us back from reaching our fullest potential, and that means maintaining strong connections with our local level and our partners in Harrisburg.”
Brown said she collaborated with bringing more than $54 million into the district over the past four years, and her office helps with the most rent rebates in the state.
“Really, my focus has been on economic opportunity for the area,” Bernstine said. “I’ve taken a three-pronged approach with it – retain, recruit and grow.”
The state legislators spoke about addressing blight and housing shortages, regulating data centers and work that was done last year to get Pennsylvania out of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.
Brooks said there is the need not just for housing, but for different types of housing to suit specific needs. She said she is in favor of changing building codes that at times increase the cost of building a house by 20% to 30% and hampers growth.
All four state legislators said getting out of RGGI was significant because it was costing Pennsylvania growth and reducing the construction of energy projects.
“That was holding us back as a state, because we were putting all these restrictions on companies and individuals to abide by these green energy rules, and that was driving costs up,” Brown said.
Alex Halper, senior vice president of government affairs with the PA Chamber, said Pennsylvania is a world leader in energy production and the No. 1 electricity exporter in the country.
“Clearly an important issue for residents, for employers, I think for all of us, we are seeing projections of demand for energy over eclipsing supply in the years ahead,” Halper said, adding that data centers are part of that.
Vogel said shutting down energy sources that do not meet emission standards only drives up energy costs because some energy sources like solar and wind are not ready to compensate for those losses.
“We still need to rely on our nuclear and our gas and our coal-fired plants to keep us going, because people don’t realize, but in the last couple years, we’ve been within an hour or two of having a brownout here in Pennsylvania,” Vogel said.
Brooks said staying in RGGI would have cost Pennsylvania millions and allowed other states in the coalition to determine their energy taxes and production.
And Bernstine added that after several years of preventing new energy plants from being built, electric power generating companies are able to come to Pennsylvania.
“Anybody that knows anything about manufacturing and business … you have to have cheap, abundant, reliable energy,” Bernstine said.
The energy discussion turned to data centers, energy concerns and water usage to cool them. Bernstine said many mistakes have been made elsewhere, but companies developing data centers have addressed those issues by providing their own electricity and using closed-loop water systems.
Brown said data centers are needed, and she is working on a bill to make sure they are giving back to the community. But both Brown and Vogel emphasized the importance of preserving farmland rather than converting it to data center sites. Vogel said Pennsylvania has plenty of former industrial sites that could accommodate data centers.
For those hoping for legislation regulating data centers, Bernstine said he does not expect it to happen, given the financial benefits data centers bring, including tax revenue for municipalities and school districts.
Brooks said she is in favor of creating an independent energy policy office to keep politics out of the difficult discussions.
Lawrence County Commissioners Dan Vogler, Dan Kennedy and Chris Salnato also updated the crowd on the upgrades to the county’s courthouses and other local projects.
Salnato said he has traveled the country, and he sees the area as a “gem,” listing several of the 26 municipalities in the county.
“Yes, things sometimes move very slowly,” Salnato said. “Unfortunately, the government moves that way, but we’re going to see positive things from the county’s perspective.”
Halper agreed with Salnato’s description about the area and credited Forward Lawrence with advocating consistently to make the region better and more hospitable for employers and attracting growth.
Melanie Brewer, district director for U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, R-16th, also discussed federal funding and programs available to Lawrence County businesses and residents, including assistance for rural hospitals, tax incentives for new housing construction and projects to expand broadband access.
Brewer said two major local road projects are receiving federal funding: $2 million for a restoration and repaving project on state Route 18 in Wilmington and $3 million for an 8.5-mile stretch of state Route 422.
Pictured at top: From left are Frank Moses, interim CEO of Forward Lawrence; Lyndsey Overby, director of the chamber of commerce; Rep. Marla Brown; Sen. Elder Vogel; Westminster College President Kathy Richardson; Alex Halper of the PA Chamber; Sen. Michele Brooks; and Diane Richardson, director of economic development for the Lawrence County Economic Development Corp.