When are we going to do more than just talk about jobs in Pa?
Published: Thursday, March 22, 2012, 5:00 AM
by Rep. Dwight Evans
With all the talk nationwide about jobs, jobs, jobs, one has to wonder why so many public officeholders or holder-wannabes are so determined to undermine any potential for job, job, job creation. In Pennsylvania, it has taken an odd turn.
Despite a year-old set of recommendations from his own transportation advisory commission, Gov. Tom Corbett has yet to put forth any kind of plan to maintain or repair our state’s crumbling infrastructure of roads, bridges, transit systems and other critical avenues needed for an economy that involves moving people and goods on a daily basis.
We are facing a $3.5 billion transportation crisis in the commonwealth, yet there is no plan in sight for a sustainable funding source for all the work that needs to be completed.
Last summer, I introduced House Bill 1834 to set in motion the steps needed to create as many as 30,000 of the jobs, jobs, jobs that would result from this endeavor. Just recently in the House, we debated the existence of a community economic development program that has helped restore the crumbling infrastructure of buildings through the commonwealth.
Some form of the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program has been in place since 1986. It is a matching grant program, funded through government-issued bonds. It has helped to provide critical matching funds to rebuild public structures such as libraries, courthouses, medical facilities, educational institutions, urban business corridors and even sports stadiums and arenas. Dozens of communities statewide have reaped the benefits of this program.
However, legislation to reduce the amount of debt allowed for the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program was approved recently by the House. The proponents of the legislation have completely ignored the fact that not all debt is bad debt. In fact, when government issues bonds for various projects, that money jump-starts the economy, adding jobs, jobs, jobs and prolonging the life of the critical infrastructure needed to attract private industry to invest in our communities.
Government cannot create jobs, jobs, jobs, but it certainly can have an influence on those who do. If Pennsylvania is to be the business-friendly destination that the governor and my colleagues claim they desire, we need to do more, not less, to entice the private sector to invest its dollars and manpower in the commonwealth.
We need to take action on the four-bill (H.B. 2181, H.B. 2182, H.B. 2183 and H.B. 2184) package I introduced this year — Made in PA — to retain, create and stimulate jobs, jobs, jobs.
Instead of cutting dollars to basic and higher education, the incubators of the commonwealth’s future workforce, we must consider more creative ways to invest those dollars, not eliminate them. We must provide additional incentives so private industry is willing to take the entrepreneurial chances necessary to stimulate the imagination and that result in family-sustaining and rewarding jobs, jobs, jobs. It is time to act, act, act.
Rep. Dwight Evans is a Democrat representing Philadelphia.
With all the talk nationwide about jobs, jobs, jobs, one has to wonder why so many public officeholders or holder-wannabes are so determined to undermine any potential for job, job, job creation. In Pennsylvania, it has taken an odd turn.
Despite a year-old set of recommendations from his own transportation advisory commission, Gov. Tom Corbett has yet to put forth any kind of plan to maintain or repair our state’s crumbling infrastructure of roads, bridges, transit systems and other critical avenues needed for an economy that involves moving people and goods on a daily basis.
We are facing a $3.5 billion transportation crisis in the commonwealth, yet there is no plan in sight for a sustainable funding source for all the work that needs to be completed.
Last summer, I introduced House Bill 1834 to set in motion the steps needed to create as many as 30,000 of the jobs, jobs, jobs that would result from this endeavor. Just recently in the House, we debated the existence of a community economic development program that has helped restore the crumbling infrastructure of buildings through the commonwealth.
Some form of the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program has been in place since 1986. It is a matching grant program, funded through government-issued bonds. It has helped to provide critical matching funds to rebuild public structures such as libraries, courthouses, medical facilities, educational institutions, urban business corridors and even sports stadiums and arenas. Dozens of communities statewide have reaped the benefits of this program.
However, legislation to reduce the amount of debt allowed for the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program was approved recently by the House. The proponents of the legislation have completely ignored the fact that not all debt is bad debt. In fact, when government issues bonds for various projects, that money jump-starts the economy, adding jobs, jobs, jobs and prolonging the life of the critical infrastructure needed to attract private industry to invest in our communities.
Government cannot create jobs, jobs, jobs, but it certainly can have an influence on those who do. If Pennsylvania is to be the business-friendly destination that the governor and my colleagues claim they desire, we need to do more, not less, to entice the private sector to invest its dollars and manpower in the commonwealth.
We need to take action on the four-bill (H.B. 2181, H.B. 2182, H.B. 2183 and H.B. 2184) package I introduced this year — Made in PA — to retain, create and stimulate jobs, jobs, jobs.
Instead of cutting dollars to basic and higher education, the incubators of the commonwealth’s future workforce, we must consider more creative ways to invest those dollars, not eliminate them. We must provide additional incentives so private industry is willing to take the entrepreneurial chances necessary to stimulate the imagination and that result in family-sustaining and rewarding jobs, jobs, jobs. It is time to act, act, act.
Rep. Dwight Evans is a Democrat representing Philadelphia.
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