PA House GOP says government should empower employers to create jobs

The state House today approved a legislative package (House Bills 2394, 2399, 2401) on party-line votes that will do little to create jobs while putting the state further into debt, House Republican Leader Sam Smith (R-Jefferson County) said.

“Spending money and raising taxes appears to be the Democrat answer to everything,” Smith said. “The Democrat plan relies on borrowed money. Unfortunately, Wall Street has already said Pennsylvania borrows too much.”

According to Bloomberg News, “Pennsylvania’s bonds have a negative outlook at Moody’s Investors Service and Fitch Ratings, which cite the Commonwealth’s declining fund balances as tax collections fall.” 

Smith said Pennsylvania is already the second-highest spending state on economic development projects, yet, according CNBC, has dropped to 33rd in their “Top States For Business.” Six hundred CEOs rated states on a wide range of criteria from taxation and regulation to workforce quality and living environment for Chief Executive Magazine.  This group put Pennsylvania at 32, a drop from 29 last year.

“The tax, borrow and spend policies are not working; in fact, they send another bad message to current and hoped-for employers that Pennsylvania is not business friendly,” Smith said. “The GOP has a different approach to create job opportunities rather than photo opportunities. We have a six-point package called the Keystone Jobs Package – aimed at allowing employers to hire people to work.”

The Keystone Jobs Package includes:

• The Shared Work Program – House Bill 2152, Rep. Doug Reichley, R-Lehigh and Berks Counties: Empowers employers to avoid layoffs by reducing hours and wages for a specific unit of employees while allowing those employees to collect a pro rata portion of unemployment compensation benefits. This program is designed to slow or prevent layoffs. 
• The Keystone Works Program – House Bill 2470, Rep. Stan Saylor, R-York County, and House Bill 2471, Rep. Curt Sonney, R-Erie County: Removes barriers to employment by matching unemployed persons and cash assistance recipients with businesses that are seeking to hire on a conditional basis at no cost to employers unless the employer chooses to hire the claimant on a permanent basis. This program is designed to help both short-term and long-term unemployed persons. 
• Unemployment Training/Education Option – House Bill 2472, Rep. Frank Farry, R-Bucks County, and Rep. Mauree Gingrich, R-Lebanon County: Allows unemployment claimants to enter into short-term career training/re-training while still collecting unemployment benefits. 
• Reauthorization and restructuring of the Employment Incentive Payments – House Bill 2473, Rep. Mike Peifer, R-Wayne County: Provides a credit to employers who hire public assistance recipients. The program is being restructured to mirror other tax credits as far as applicability and pass-through provision, and to also apply to unemployment recipients. 
• Revitalize and reprioritize the Self-Employment Assistance Program – Helps unemployed individuals enter into self-employment through entrepreneurial training and counseling while continuing to receive unemployment compensation. 
• The Teen Employment Incentive Tax Credit – House Bill 2474, Rep. Gordon Denlinger, R-Lancaster County: Capped at $15 million, this provides a tax credit for 50 percent of costs incurred for each job provided by a business to a teenager.

Representative Sam Smith
Republican Leader
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Contact: Stephen Miskin (717) 787-3845
E-Mail: smiskin@pahousegop.com
Internet: www.samsmithpahouse.com