News & Brews April 21, 2022
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Fetterman, Lamb to meet on debate stage for first time tonight
The Post-Gazette reports that for the first time, Lt. Gov. John Fetterman and U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb, both candidates for U.S. Senate, will meet on the debate stage this evening, along with state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta. The debate, which will be held at ABC27’s studios in Harrisburg, will begin at 8pm and will be live-streamed at ABC27.com. It will also air on multiple TV stations across the state.
Lawmakers want to expand corporate welfare (sigh…)
The Center Square reports on yesterday’s Senate Finance Committee’s hearing on Pennsylvania’s film tax credit, noting that legislators are looking to expand this corporate welfare program by 80%. You’ll recall a 2019 analysis of the program by the state’s Independent Fiscal Office found “that the net return on investment (ROI) is 13.1 cents of state tax revenue for each tax credit dollar.” Efforts to expand the handout are bipartisan (sigh again). Here’s an idea: How about we end corporate welfare (which costs Pennsylvanians hundreds of millions of dollars each year) and stop letting the government pick winners and losers? Brilliant!
Dem super PAC targeting PA, other swing states, with pro-Biden ad
The Democrat super PAC American Bridge 21st Century is beginning a $3.5 million ad buy in Pennsylvania, Arizona, Georgia, and Nevada to try to convince voters that President Biden has been good for the economy. Good luck with that. Here’s the ad that will run in PA.
McSwain Op-Ed: ‘I will cut PA gas tax in half’
GOP gubernatorial candidate Bill McSwain has an op-ed in the Delaware Valley Journal, outlining his plan to “permanently reduce this [gas] tax by 50 percent, which will effectively repeal the gas tax raise enacted in 2013 and put paychecks back where they belong – in the wallets of hardworking Pennsylvanians.” McSwain also promises to “evaluate the entire state budget and cut areas of wasteful spending.” Read his piece here. (Disclosure: Commonwealth Partners has endorsed Bill McSwain for governor.)
Op-Ed: ‘Celebrating Appalachia’s green transformation’
David Callahan, president of the Marcellus Shale Coalition, Robert Brundrett, president of the Ohio Oil & Gas Association, and Charlie Burd, executive director of the Gas and Oil Association of West Virginia, write in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, “Thanks to the significant increased use of natural gas for power generation, we have seen historic improvements in our regional air quality as pollutants such as nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides and other emissions have plummeted, in some cases by nearly 90%.” Read their piece here.