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POLICY ROUNDUP: Hoeffel and Knox on energy, Specter on abortion & jobs galore

While we at pa2010.com Central were distracted with raw politics as usual, Tuesday ended up being a day chock full of policy pronouncements.

It started with Democrat Joe Hoeffel’s gubernatorial campaign putting out his plan for tapping the state’s energy-rich Marcellus Shale, which he said needed to be done with a careful eye on environmental implications. He proposed, among other initiatives, improving the “right to know” rules, giving the state’s Department of Environmental Protection greater powers, strengthening clean-water laws, and the big one, passive a five percent extraction and severance tax that has been bitterly fought by the industry.

“Recovery of natural gas in the Marcellus Shale will create thousands of jobs for Pennsylvanians and is an economic stimulus to communities and businesses, but we must approach this opportunity carefully and manage it responsibly,” Hoeffel said in a statement.

You can see his full plan here.

A little later in the day, Hoeffel’s primary opponent Tom Knox showed up in Harrisburg to chat about his signature issue of stopping the looming utility rate caps that he says will crush Pennsylvania residents. The highlight of his proposals was formation of an Energy Development Fund that would help finance green job training and offer tax credits for hiring green job employees. He agrees with Hoeffel on instituting a Marcellus extraction tax, which he would use to seed the Energy Development Fund. And he saved his strongest words, as usual, for utility companies.

“Let me be clear, I intend to take on utility companies as Governor,” Knox said in a statement later. “I sincerely believe that voters want a Governor that is willing to stand up for families and businesses who are struggling to pay electric bills.”

But our friends over at Capitol Ideas tell us that Knox got a little bogged down when reporters peppered him about why he was holding a campaign press conference at the Capitol, a public building. Knox’s policy director Chris Craig said “it’s here for your convenience. It’s here so we can talk about a serious issue. This can devolve into a discussion over whether we pay $20 to turn the lights on. We’re here for your convenience so you can cover an issue.”

Oh well, live and learn. You can read about Knox’s energy plans here.

Between the Joe Hoeffel and Tom Knox shows, Senator Arlen Specter’s office pointed out that he had taken to the Senate floor to assail an amendment to health care legislation that would restrict people receiving federal subsidies from buying private insurance to cover abortions. Criticizing the Nelson-Hatch provision, Specter said that the current legislation without that amendment “maintains careful delineation which has been worked out up until this time; that is, there would not be any Federal funds used for abortion, but there would be no limitation on the ability of a woman to have abortion coverage if she chooses to so long as she paid for it herself.”

Specter added: “A principal concern which I have is that if this issue results in a stalemate, the entire bill will be defeated because of this issue. … There is no reason to stalemate when there is such a clear-cut path. The bill explicitly provides that no Federal funds may be used for abortion, that any Federal funds would be segregated.”

On top of all that, President Obama’s speech of job creation policies elicited its own bevy of reactions.

“President Obama came to my adopted hometown of Allentown, PA on Friday as part of a nationwide listening tour,” Republican Senate candidate Pat Toomey said. “While he was here, I urged him to institute policies that will reduce the deficit and create jobs. Sadly, President Obama does not appear to be listening. Staggering deficits [are] strangling our economy, and if we want to create economic growth, we must first tackle our ballooning debt.”

Gail Conner, a Democrat running for Congress in the 7th District, had a different take.

“Tax cuts for small business, additional infrastructure spending, and incentives to hire new workers are all critical steps to take in order to keep our economy moving in the right direction and to create more jobs,” Conner said. “The Administration is also doing the right thing by encouraging Congress to extend unemployment insurance, provide aid to states and cities to preserve jobs, and offer healthcare assistance for the jobless.”

Dan Onorato is unveiling a policy paper on higher education Wednesday. Looks like we’re officially knee-deep in the wonkish stuff.

December 8, 2009 at 6:07 pm

--Dan Hirschhorn

Tags: Arlen Specter, Gail Conner, Joe Hoeffel, Pat Toomey, Tom Knox

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