NOTES FROM PITTSBURGH: from the record -- what PA state senators said about the PA Petrochemicals Complex during legislative sessions

David L. Passmore

Shell Chemical Appalachia LLC is building and operating an ethane cracker to support polyethylene resin manufacturing in southwestern Pennsylvania. The 386-acre Pennsylvania Petrochemicals Complex is adjacent to the Ohio River in Potter and Center townships near the borough of Monaca in Beaver County, Pennsylvania. Polyethylene is a feedstock for manufacturing plastic products, especially packaging and auto components. Polyethylene is produced from ethylene created from steam processing of ethane, a natural gas liquid found in some gas streams in the Marcellus and Utica shale formations. I detail information the Complex in a blog posting, Questions remain about potential economic impact of soon-to-open Pennsylvania Petrochemicals Complex.

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania used tax expenditures as incentives for siting petrochemical plants such as the Complex in Pennsylvania:

Act 16 in 2012 makes petrochemical manufacturers like Shell exempt from all corporate net income taxes and property taxes for 15 years after first occupying the Beaver County site, as long as it invests at least one billion dollars (not necessarily in Pennsylvania) and creates at least 400 new permanent full-time jobs. Shell said it would deploy 600 jobs to operate the Complex.
Act 85 in 2012 gives Shell a tax credit of 5 cents for every gallon of ethane it buys to manufacture ethylene, provided that 2,500 full-time equivalent jobs are created during construction of the Complex (≅6,000 were, according to Shell). Shell will pay no taxes as stipulated in Act 16, but Shell can benefit by selling unused credits as tax equity for other purchasing firms to reduce their own tax liability.

In this blog posting, I reproduce passages extracted from transcripts of comments about the Complex made by State Senators during meetings of the Pennsylvania General Assembly that were published in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Legislative Journal. I searched transcripts for any mention of ethane, cracker, petrochemical, Beaver County, Monaca, and Shell between 2011 and 2020. I list passages extracted in order from earliest to latest. Most numerous were passages from 2012, but passages were identified for 2013, 2014, and 2019, also. Some years do not contain targeted passages and are not listed.

Figure 1: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Journal.

Selected for this blog posting are passages in which opinions were expressed about the Pennsylvania Petrochemical Complex, but not passages in which the Complex is merely mentioned or in which the Complex seems tangential to the legislative discussion. Passages are presented in this blog out of context of surrounding statements made and issues identified during legislative sessions, but are otherwise unedited. URLs are provided that link Adobe PDF files containing the transcripts in case an examination is desired of passages extracted within the fuller legislative record.. Page numbers are indicated from which passages were drawn.

Navigation: Point to and click on the ‣ symbol in the listing shown below to expand the text containing a passage.

2012

June 5, 2012

Mike Stack (Democrat, 5th District), Legislative Journal, No. 34, pp. 532-533, https://davidpassmore.net/blogd/files/leg/2012copy.pdf.

Mr. President, once again, Governor Corbett has a short memory. Since his budget announcement back in February, the Governor has said that we have to hold the line on spending. Not only that, he said that this would be a new age of open, transparent government, like never before. He said that we were able to make some significant cuts during the last cycle, but more cuts were going to be needed to get us back on the road to fiscal responsibility.

Interest groups such as college students were told that there was not enough money to appropriately fund their universities or to fund their PHEAA grants. Those with pre-existing health conditions were told there was not any money to continue to fund the adult basic health insurance program so that they could receive adequate coverage. The disabled and the elderly were told that while their causes may be worthy, there just was not any room at the inn.

Miraculously, however, Mr. President, it appears that money may be found to give Shell Oil Corporation a $67 million annual tax credit for just a short time, 25 years, Mr. President. Who could use a multibillion dollar tax credit more than Shell Oil? I could think of a few people. You know, we could fund the aforementioned adult Basic insurance program with just one year’s tax credit. I cannot say that it would create any new jobs, but I think the 44,000 people who have already been thrown to the curb, if we continued the program, they might be healthy enough or alive to be able to at least work in these jobs. Much like the proven litigator that he is, the details are being held very close to the vest, and it is not until you peel away the benign-looking Tax Code bill that the devilish details appear. For the next quarter century, Pennsylvania taxpayers, according to the plan, will be giving Shell close to $1.7 billion in tax credits to bring its ballyhooed ethane cracker plant and the jobs to Pennsylvania.

June 18, 2012

Mike Stack (Democrat, 5th District), Legislative Journal, No. 39, p. 610, https://davidpassmore.net/blogd/files/leg/2012copy.pdf.

In the recent 10 days, it has been uncovered that the Governor has been negotiating, somewhat clandestinely and secretly, with Royal Dutch Shell to bring an ethane cracker plant to southwestern Pennsylvania. Supposedly, and I have heard this song before, we are going to let them basically get off beyond scot-free, with an almost $2 billion tax giveaway over 25 years, so that we are going to lock down the people of Pennsylvania for a quarter of a century into this obligation. At the same time, this same cracker plant is located in a KOZ, which means they will not owe any taxes anyway for a decade.

In the meantime, the folks out there, the little people, which is by far the majority of the people, it used to be people in the lower class, now it is pretty much the whole class, unless you are in the elite upper class, nobody is going to give you a tax give-away. But apparently, the Governor thinks it is a good idea, once again, to secretly try to make a deal with this huge international gas conglomerate to get obligated for all kinds of tax privileges. Essentially, at the end of the day, Pennsylvanians are going to owe this company about $7,000 apiece, and they are guaranteeing us something between 10,000 and 20,000 jobs. But I will tell you what, Mr. President, there is no way I am going to vote for any kind of legislation, and I do not think anyone in this body should, until we get a guaranteed number of jobs. The tax credit should be based on the number of jobs guaranteed for Pennsylvanians. I have seen the most recent studies that show that many of these jobs can be held, if in fact we create 10,000 to 20,000 jobs, and I am weary of that number, that these jobs can go to people in Ohio, they can go to people in West Virginia, and I want people in West Virginia and Ohio to have jobs, but first, Mr. President, I want Pennsylvanians to have a shot at these jobs.

So let us be sensible about this. Let us get it out in the open, and I know now we are running to catch up. I think the Governor sees, the legislature should know what is going on. He wants to vote this thing and fast-track it, which I think is terrible policy. We consider legislation around here that takes us months, years, and sometimes multiple years and hearings to determine the best way to pursue it. Now, we have not had a single hearing. We are finding out third-hand what is going on, and now, apparently, the Governor is going to let us in on a few things. Now, he wants us to pass it before the end of this budget cycle. There is no way we should fast-track something that is going to affect Pennsylvanians for a quarter of a century, that is going to be the biggest tax giveaway in the history of this country, and I think that Pennsylvanians have a right to know what is going on.

June 20, 2012

James Ferlo (Democrat, District 38), Legislative Journal, No. 41, pp. 644-645, https://davidpassmore.net/blogd/files/leg/2012copy.pdf.

Mr. President, my district is as far away as any from the prospective site of the ethane refinery, so the natural assumption is the chances of economic benefits working their way into our area are pretty remote. But it turns out that this project is a winner for just about every part of Pennsylvania. In northeastern Pennsylvania, there are dozens of plastic manufacturers, nearly 40 in Luzerne and Lackawanna Counties alone, who now must bring raw material down from Canada or up from the Gulf of Mexico. Being able to acquire it from just across the State cuts shipping costs and time. A firm that can cut costs becomes more competitive on the prices for its products, and more demand means more direct and indirect jobs. One of the companies standing to benefit in this fashion is Procter & Gamble. Located in Mehoopany, Wyoming County, P&G employs more than 4,000 direct and indirect workers in every senatorial district within a six-county radius. So when you think about it, citizens who live in Senator Gordner’s district, Senator Blake’s district, Senator Yudichak’s district, and Senator Yaw’s district all work at the P&G plant in my district. It is an economic engine in our region contributing to the local economy, helping families buy homes, send their kids to college, investing in our communities through the United Way, and other charitable giving.

The plant has already saved money by powering its operations with its own natural gas wells, 10 billion cubic feet of gas a year no longer piped 1,500 miles from the Gulf of Mexico. The plant, having the ethylene for Pampers and other products closer to home, adds to the savings, positioning them to expand and create even more jobs.

Another example is the PepsiCo company plant in Mountain Top. It is a production plant in Luzerne County, also in my Senatorial district which produces Gatorade for distribution throughout the entire northeastern United States. Recently, a bottle manufacturer co-located next door to this facility to improve efficiency in costs. Companies are more likely to expand profitable, competitive, productive locations, and these two regional employers are better positioned and better poised for future growth and future viability.

Over the years we have seen multiple economic strategies launched in countless incentives and assistance programs offered to jump start job creation. Few have had any hope of yielding the immense economic payoff anticipated for this project. So we can act decisively to insure a better economic future for all of Pennsylvania. I urge an affirmative vote.

June 26, 2012

Christine Tartaglione (Democrat, District 2), Legislative Journal, No. 43, pp. 676-677, https://davidpassmore.net/blogd/files/leg/2012copy.pdf.

Mr. President, while we as a legislative body have already agreed to bond over $4.5 billion to reduce the Federal UC debt that business would have had to pay and allow them to continue to receive their FUTA tax credits, we still consider reducing or eliminating the capital stock and franchise tax, and we are con-sidering a tax credit for Shell Chemical L.P. that could exempt them from much of its State tax burden for a quarter-century, up to $1.65 billion over 25 years, all in the name of jobs, with absolutely no guarantee of how many jobs or how well-paying those jobs would be. I suggest that it is time we do something for our constituents in the Commonwealth and pass the amendment to avoid more and more Pennsylvania folks falling into poverty.

To that point, Mr. President, I point out just a few items of interest with regard to raising the minimum wage: The price of gasoline today is $1 per gallon more than it was last time when we voted to raise the minimum wage. Shell Oil Company made more than $7 billion in profit in the first quarter of this year due to those higher gas prices. Finally, in the 5 minutes it took me to make these remarks, Shell Oil made$300,000 in profit, while a minimum wage worker made 60 cents.

Mike Stack (Democrat, 5th District), Legislative Journal, No. 43, p. 678, https://davidpassmore.net/blogd/files/leg/2012copy.pdf.

I mentioned we are now speeding forward to pass the State budget on time, and some folks may have heard about another issue that is looming out there that I cannot believe we are actually going to vote on this week. We are going to vote on one of the biggest issues this State has seen in probably 100 years, and that is the issue of the huge tax giveaway to Royal Dutch Shell. As folks might remember, the media uncovered that Governor Corbett was secretly negotiating with Royal Dutch Shell. I do not even like the sound of this, Royal Dutch Shell. The aforementioned company has record profits in the billions of dollars. They are a company that is already present here in Pennsylvania with Marcellus Shale. They are a key player there. That is before we have even settled the problem of this issue with pollution in hydraulic fracking, the process used in Marcellus Shale. So we have the issue of fracking. Now, apparently, we have an issue with an ethane cracker coming into the same region. So we have fracking, and we are going to have cracking, and as far as people’s right to talk about this stuff and be involved, the man and woman and child who are just trying to get by, as for your rights to discuss this, that is going to be sacked. So we are going to be fracking, cracking, and sacking here in Pennsylvania.

I have talked about this, the idea that we can, in a knowing way, give away nearly $2 billion over a quarter of a century. That is what Governor Corbett wants to do. That is what this legislation will do. It will bind Pennsylvanians for 25 years to give $2 billion in tax credits to Royal Dutch Shell because they have said they may be able to create 10,000 or 20,000 jobs, but they have not said that they can guarantee they are in Pennsylvania. Actually, they have not really even said that they can create 10,000 or 20,000 jobs. In fact, most of the people–the only thing they have said, and the Tribune out of Pittsburgh pointed this out, they talked about 400 to 600 jobs. That is all they are talking about right now.

The bottom line is, we do not have all the information. Mr. President, we in our Caucus had a chance to be visited by DCED Secretary Walker and Revenue Secretary Meuser yesterday. I like both of those gentlemen. I think they are both smart guys. I think they are both good gentlemen and do the best that they can. We asked them a lot of questions, the Members of the Democratic Caucus, about the commitment to jobs, what exactly happens with these tax credits. By the way, when I say tax credits, ladies and gentlemen, you should know, Pennsylvanians, what this means in sheer math is you give $7,000 of your money to Royal Dutch Shell. You give them the money. It gets taken from you so that they can maybe create some jobs. You should have a chance to ask some questions yourself. My guess is, you will not. That is why guys like me are here, to try to ask those questions for you.

So we are going to, in addition to the budget, vote on a little piece binding Pennsylvanians for a quarter of a century, we are going to vote on that this week. We have not even had a hearing. We, 20 Members of the Democratic Caucus, met with these Secretaries. They told us they still could not answer the questions we were asking because negotiations are still going on. We are apparently afraid that if we do not win this deal, if we do not give $2 billion over 25 years, that Royal Dutch Shell, the record- profiting international oil and gas company, will go to West Virginia or Ohio. So we are afraid that Ohio or West Virginia is going to give them a better deal. Mr. President, if Ohio and West Virginia wants to give them more than $2 billion in tax credits, more of your money to get them to go there with a faint promise that is uncommitted to create more jobs, maybe we should consider letting them do it.

In the meantime, we have many questions that have to be asked. What happens if Royal Dutch Shell comes here for 10 years, they get their agreement for 25 years of tax credits, then they decide to leave? Can they take their tax credits with them? I fear the answer to that question, Mr. President. I think most people are not aware of what these tax credits are. We have it with the film tax credit industry. A movie company can come here and be given 10 years of tax credits. If they leave after a year or two, or if they do not need the tax credits, they can hold on to these tax credits and sell them to other companies, and they do not even have to be film companies. The same thing, I believe, can be done with Royal Dutch Shell. We give them our money, they can sell it to someone else. This is incredible. Mr. President, at a time when people are trying to pay their bills just to stay in their houses, they are worried about holding onto their own jobs, they are worried about their own future and the future of their families to get an education and have a shot in Pennsylvania, we are talking about the biggest cash giveaway in the history of this State, and we have not even had a single hearing, let alone a public hearing.

Mr. President, I cannot see any way how I can support such a wrongheaded piece of legislation. I have a long track record of supporting economic growth and job creation in this State, but my job here is to ask the questions, certainly ask the tough questions, but the easy questions have not even been asked yet. So I cannot see any way that I could vote for this huge tax giveaway. I know there is no way I can let the most vulnerable people of Pennsylvania who are getting hit terribly hard in this budget, at the same time we are talking about taking care of the super, super rich, I do not see how I can vote for the budget.

June 29, 2012

Elder Vogel (Republican, District 47), Legislative Journal, No. 46, p. 729, https://davidpassmore.net/blogd/files/leg/2012copy.pdf.

We have an opportunity today, an opportunity that may never come again. What we have before us today is an opportunity to pass a bill that means thousands of jobs for Pennsylvanians all across the State. This bill provides a performance-based tax credit that will be used for purchasing ethane and for using ethylene-manufactured goods. We have the ability, by passing this bill, to stand up for jobs in the Commonwealth, good-paying jobs, jobs that will sustain families by providing a lifeline to communities all across the State who have suffered as a result of the steel mills closing down years ago.

Ever since taking office, Mr. President, my number-one obligation to the people who elected me was to work hard to bring jobs to my district, and now, Mr. President, we have an opportunity to do that just that, by passing this legislation which provides for the resource manufacturing tax credit. The tax credit means jobs for the people of my district and jobs for the people of Pennsylvania. We have a once-in-a- lifetime opportunity that will allow us to transform Pennsylvania back into the manufacturing powerhouse it once was. The construction of an ethane cracking facility in my district would create upwards of 10,000 jobs, and thousands of spinoff jobs for related industries that will spring up in the vicinity of the plant and across Pennsylvania to avail themselves of inexpensive and plentiful raw materials that will be transformed into many of the products we use every day - pool liners, trash bags, sealants, carpet backing, insulation, detergent, food packaging, bottles, footwear, clothing, and the list goes on and on.

If you travel around the country, you will inevitably meet a lot of people who used to be from Pennsylvania. When the mills closed down, they left. This bill provides us an opportunity to bring those people back. I stand before you today to ask for your support. This bill means jobs, jobs, jobs. This is not a tax credit bill, this is a jobs bill. Let us rebuild Pennsylvania together. I ask that you all stand with me and support the hardworking families of Pennsylvania.

Lisa Baker (Republican, District 20), Legislative Journal, No. 46, pp. 729-730, https://davidpassmore.net/blogd/files/leg/2012copy.pdf.

Mr. President, we have an opportunity to-day, an opportunity that may never come again. What we have before us today is an opportunity to pass a bill that means thou-sands of jobs for Pennsylvanians all across the State. This bill provides a performance-based tax credit that will be used for purchasing ethane and for using ethylene-manufactured goods. We have the ability, by passing this bill, to stand up for jobs in the Commonwealth, good-paying jobs, jobs that will sustain families by providing a lifeline to communities all across the State who have suffered as a result of the steel mills closing down years ago.

In mid-March, Shell Chemical announced that it signed a land option agreement to potentially build a $4 billion ethane cracker plant in Beaver County, located in my district. They did not say they would build the plant, they said they would potentially build the plant. This bill will help seal the deal. The tax credit before us will say to Shell, we want you to come, and we want the jobs you are bringing with you. The Shell project will be the largest economic development project in southwestern Pennsylvania in more than a decade. Ever since taking office, Mr. President, my number-one obligation to the people who elected me was to work hard to bring jobs to my district, and now, Mr. President, we have an opportunity to do that just that, by passing this legislation which provides for the resource manufacturing tax credit.

The tax credit means jobs for the people of my district and jobs for the people of Pennsylvania. We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that will allow us to transform Pennsylvania-nia back into the manufacturing powerhouse it once was. The construction of an ethane cracking facility in my district would create upwards of 10,000 jobs, and thousands of spinoff jobs for related industries that will spring up in the vicinity of the plant and across Pennsylvania to avail themselves of inexpensive and plentiful raw materials that will be transformed into many of the products we use every day - pool liners, trash bags, sealants, carpet backing, insulation, detergent, food packaging, bottles, footwear, clothing, and the list goes on and on.

James Ferlo (Democrat, District 38), Legislative Journal, No. 46, pp. 730-731, https://davidpassmore.net/blogd/files/leg/2012copy.pdf.

Senator Vogel, to his credit, and others have talked about what would be the best way to provide that credit over the life of the next 20-plus years. I think it is a prudent investment. I have been in office 25 years. When I first was elected, I was looking at a steel mill in South Side on Second Avenue. It has taken six mayors to transform the economic development, the business, and the vibrancy of the city of Pittsburgh. It has happened over a long period of time. This so-called cracker plant may begin with the initiative here today in the Senate and the House and with this Governor, but the timeline is probably going to be extensive and could go into some future administration.

I do think we need to start the clock ticking, provide the economic developmental tool to this Governor in a nonpartisan fashion so that there could be appropriate, constructive, and prudent negotiations with Royal Dutch Shell and what this economic opportunity means. That discussion and that arsenal of an opportunity and the arsenal of the tool box for economic development needs to be in place now. I know there are people who are commenting, why are we doing this now? We are talking about a plant and a decision that has not even been made yet and may not be made for several years. But that process begins now and it needs to begin in earnest. I certainly do support and differentiate the non-wisdom of Act 13 versus what I do consider a prudent and appropriate investment for a tremendous amount of economic development.

I will close with just one reminder. I will not start naming every project, but in the time I have been here in the Senate, we have, through public subsidy or through bond indebtedness, subsidized over $5 billion, with a “b,” $5 billion of economic investment. So the $1.4 billion as proposed, or whatever it ends up being, is really not inconsistent with all the other energies that have come before us.

Michael Stack (Democrat, District 5), Legislative Journal, No. 46, p. 731, https://davidpassmore.net/blogd/files/leg/2012copy.pdf.

Mr. President, I am not going to speak for a long time. I appreciate what many of the Members are talking about. I just have to say that frankly, as a Member of the Pennsylvania Senate, elected by and representing about 280,000 people, I feel I have a duty to be as informed as I possibly can be on something this monumental, significant, and long-term in this State. Frankly, Mr. President, I do not know all that much more about what we are trying to do here with regard to the Tax Code and the ethane cracker plant than I knew a couple of weeks ago when I first saw this story from Pete DeCoursey on Capitolwire that uncovered the fact that Governor Corbett was conducting negotiations on this issue.

I know as we have gone forward with this, my friends and colleagues on the other side also felt they needed a lot more information both in the House and Senate, and folks have hustled in the whirlwind that we go through when we are trying to pass a budget to get all the information possible. All I can tell you is that I have supported tax credits in the past with the film tax credit. I am supportive of trying to encourage businesses to come here and invest in Pennsylvania, but usually, there has to be a very tight verification of what the deal is. What is the business offering, what is the Commonwealth offering, and what are the verifications for performance? That also goes with this whole concept of reform that many of us have been championing these last several years here. The whole concept of openness, transparency, making sure that the taxpayers and the people across the State know what we are doing, how we are doing it, and why we are doing it. That is an important issue in this State, and on this issue I do not believe we are coming even close to becoming open or transparent.

So my problem with this legislation is not with its intent. It is with the fact that the information available is not to the level that I think any taxpayer at home would want me to have in order to vote for a piece of legislation which proposes to bind the Commonwealth for a quarter century. I have heard many different promises with regard to jobs. And you have to be careful about promises in the legislature or in business, and you have to verify. But I have heard anything from 400 jobs, to 10,000 jobs, to 20,000 jobs, to more, to less. I have not seen anything that certifies that those jobs will be Pennsylvania jobs, certifies that those will be quality jobs, life-fulfilling, economy-sustaining jobs. And I am not satisfied that Royal Dutch Shell will be held to a standard where they must stay in Pennsylvania and carry out what-ever proposed obligations we are putting on them.

I believe in jobs, and I believe that you make a pact with businesses to bring jobs to Pennsylvania. But when you cannot verify exactly how many jobs we are talking about, yet on the other side of the relationship, a business gets to verify what their tax package will look like but we do not really know what we will get, that is an unfair deal. That is not a good deal for the people of Pennsylvania. So until I get more information, until I really feel that we are going to get those jobs, that the people of Pennsylvania really are going to benefit, I cannot support this legislation, Mr. President.

Robert Mensch (Republican, District 24), Legislative Journal, No. 46, pp. 731-732, https://davidpassmore.net/blogd/files/leg/2012copy.pdf.

Mr. President, let me start out with a very simple premise. Governments do not create economy, governments enable economies. That is called tax policies. Government does not have a product or service to sell. We do not make any money by ourselves, and the only way we get any money is when we tax somebody, whether it is a business or an individual. So, it is incumbent on us to envision methodologies, programs, and ideas that we can, as a State, make investments toward so that the private sector can bring us new taxable economy. That is what this cracker deal is all about. It is about bringing new jobs, it is about bringing new economy to the State.

When I look around my area, and I live in Montgomery County, I think back to all the companies that used to be there: Bethlehem Steel, United States Steel, Firestone Tire, Kiwi shoe polish, Mrs. Smith’s Pies, and Mayer Pollock, who, by the way, erected the Golden Gate Bridge for Bethlehem Steel. We had great economic power in our State at one time. We do not today. We are suffering, we are suffering dramatically, and we have a chance here to bring new jobs to our State. We want to somehow politicize this. It is inappropriate to do that. We are hurting all of our citizens when we do that.

I heard an argument earlier about a very parochial attitude toward this development. What is this going to do in my district?Let me tell you what it is going to do in everybody’s district. It is going to improve our economy for all of us. If you are worried about deliverables from State government today as new funding or funding in existing programs, you are going to want more taxable income in your district. If you want to see the government expand its spending, you are going to want more economy in the State that can be taxed. That is what the cracker plant will do. But, it is not only about one plant being developed by Shell. We are talking about tens of thousands of jobs that will be created upstream in the oil fields and downstream in the manufacturing, distribution, and the sales of these products. It is an in-credible opportunity for our State and it is one very worthwhile for us to invest behind.

To go back to what I said before, we do not sell a product, and we do not sell a service. To get a dollar, we need to tax some-body, and the best solution is to bring more taxable money and more taxable individuals into our State. Take people off of unemployment and give them new jobs, bring more citizens into this State, if that is what is necessary. Let us expand our economy and we can expand the positive welfare of all of the people within our State.

This is not just about my district. This is about Pennsylvania not needing to be competitive district to district or county to county. We do not even need to be competitive State to State. We need to be competitive with the international market. Pennsylvania has the highest, the highest corporate net income tax structure in the world. Pennsylvania used to be second to Japan. Japan lowered their corporate net income rate in February. We now stand alone as having the single highest corporate net in-come tax rate, and we have the highest corporate tax structure with the single sales factor, which hopefully we fix with net operating loss carryforwards limited, with capital stock and franchise tax, and with a corporate net income. We have the highest structure in the United States, in the world, and we disincentivize businesses from coming here. We now have an administration with an initiative to bring these jobs back to Pennsylvania, bring jobs back to Pennsylvania. This is an incredibly worthwhile investment by the State, and I stand in full support of House Bill No. 761.

Lisa Boscola (Democrat, District 18), Legislative Journal, No. 46, p.732, https://davidpassmore.net/blogd/files/leg/2012copy.pdf.

Mr. President, I have been in the Senate for about 13 years now, and in the House for 4 years, and one of the things that I consistently said was that we need to make things in this country and this State, that manufacturing is important, and it resonates with people because, as you talk to individuals across the State, you will see that people say, what are we making here in this State? Are we becoming a service-oriented economy? If that is the case, we are not going to have the good-paying jobs out there, and we are not going to be able to compete globally. So when I saw this bill, and actually learned more about it, I thought, well, let us get into the details, and let us see what this manufacturing tax credit is really going to do.

This credit for Shell to build a chemical ethane cracker plant is a huge investment, some might say a huge risk. But with huge risks come huge rewards. I was a little cautious when I first heard about the language, but became more confident as I read more and more about this tax credit and about the Shell company, knowing that they probably would build a state-of-the-art facility. And why this is important to me, Mr. President, is be-cause I grew up as a steelworker’s daughter. I grew up in the city of Bethlehem where Bethlehem Steel was, where most of the people worked in the city of Bethlehem and the Lehigh Valley. And I will tell you what, it was a robust town, men and women working very hard, proud of what they were doing by making steel and building this country.

Now, Bethlehem Steel is no longer around, but I can tell you that some of those men and women actually worked so hard to put their sons and daughters through college. That is kind of what I wanted to say today was, my father, a steelworker, when he was in high school, he actually got straight A’s in practically every class he was involved with. And sometimes they would give him a 0 because, especially in math, he would never get a single problem wrong. He applied to Lehigh University, but be-cause his family had no money, he could not attend. My father worked at the Bethlehem Steel plant with a good, solid-paying job, and he made sure that his daughter, if she was smart enough, would never be denied college because he could not afford it. Well, I went to Villanova University and got a master’s degree, and now I am a Senator. So what does that say? Anyway, the whole point of this story is, we have an opportunity today with the biggest manufacturing tax credit I have ever seen, it is going to bring good-paying jobs to this Common-wealth. What about those families? Maybe there is going to be a child or two whose family never went to college and one is going to be able to go now. The families are going to be happy. This State is finally going to become on record as one of the biggest job creators as compared to other States. That is fascinating, and I am enthusiastic about this, and I hope it works out. I know it will. When all those jobs are created, I probably will be one saying to the naysayers that I told you so.

Mr. President, I just want to say enthusiastically that, I think, this is one of the best pieces of legislation I have seen. I am proud to be part of the Senate today.

John Blake (Democrat, District 22), Legislative Journal, No. 46, pp.732-733, https://davidpassmore.net/blogd/files/leg/2012copy.pdf.

Anyway, the whole point of this story is, we have an opportunity today with the biggest manufacturing tax credit I have ever seen, it is going to bring good-paying jobs to this Commonwealth. What about those families? Maybe there is going to be a child or two whose family never went to college and one is going to be able to go now. The families are going to be happy. This State is finally going to become on record as one of the biggest job creators as compared to other States. That is fascinating, and I am enthusiastic about this, and I hope it works out. I know it will. When all those jobs are created, I probably will be one saying to the naysayers that I told you so.

Mr. President, I just want to say enthusiastically that, I think, this is one of the best pieces of legislation I have seen. I am proud to be part of the Senate today.

Mary Jo White (Democrat, District 21), Legislative Journal, No. 46, p. 733, https://davidpassmore.net/blogd/files/leg/2012copy.pdf.

Mr. President, I am excited to support this tax bill. As with the Tax Code or any code bill, there are things in it for people to love and for people to hate. But in this one, the tax incentives for the new Shell cracker plant in western Pennsylvania are one of the most exciting things I have seen in my 16 years in this body. It is a game changer for Pennsylvania today, tomorrow, and for my grandchildren. I ran again this time because of the Marcellus Shale opportunities. It is huge. It turns Pennsylvania into an energy exporting State once again. I come from an area where, 150 years ago, we were the oil and gas capital of the world. Today we are not, but the advent of the wet gas, particularly, the gas in western Pennsylvania, is transforming my communities.

The big issue for this cracker plant, frankly, when they made the decision to come here, I was talking to an executive of a company who has four cracker plants all down in the Gulf Coast, and she–the president of the company is female–said to me she was interested that they were going to build a cracker plant away from the refining complexes. Well, of course the reason is obvious: there are other uses for this gas as a feedstock for innumerable businesses, as Senator Baker pointed out. They are putting it up in the center of the area where this gas is being produced, and their big concern is that there is enough of this gas to sustain this plant for years into the future. That is what we are talking about here, Mr. President, the future.

This is, as I said, a game changer, a global change in Pennsylvania’s future economy. I am excited to support it, not just pleased to. When Senator Baker pointed out, correctly, that the–this is a new industry here, not just a new business or factory, and this will benefit every manufacturer in the State. I urge its support. Thank you.

Larry Farnese (Democrat, District 1), Legislative Journal, No. 46, p. 733, https://davidpassmore.net/blogd/files/leg/2012copy.pdf.

Mr. President, very briefly, I was not going to rise, but I heard the comments of my good friend from Beaver County who started off the discussion tonight, and I heard him say something along the lines that we have a unique opportunity; an opportunity today to create jobs and create development, and to move Pennsylvania forward; an opportunity to really do something here in this Chamber, do something that we were sent here to do for the people we represent. I thought about that. Mr. President, the truth of the matter is that we had that opportunity many, many times in this building, many times on this floor. We had that opportunity last year when the Senate Democrats wrote out a plan known as PA Works. We had it again this year when we rolled out plan, after plan, after plan that talked about ways that Pennsylvania can move forward with no tax increases, no expenses to our citizens, and to quote what one of the earlier speakers said, allow government to enable economy.

Mr. President, government can enable the economy in many ways. It can enable the economy by giving huge tax breaks and incentives to the cracker plant, which I am going to be supporting today because I believe in this program. But let us not kid ourselves, Mr. President, there are many ways to create jobs, and there are many ways that government can enable an economy. Here is a secret that maybe a lot of people do not want to admit: Not all those ideas come from one side of the aisle. Sometimes those types of ideas come from this side of the aisle. Would it not be great if we could work in a bipartisan way to do exactly what the gentlemen from Beaver, Bucks, and multiple other counties characterized as government enabling the economy? Would it not be great if we could work together on many different ideas to do just exactly that?

So there is going to be a lot of support on both sides of the aisle for this because we believe in it, we believe it is good for Pennsylvania, but do not kid yourself, Mr. President, do not kid yourself. Many opportunities arise in this room. Many opportunities arise in this room for job creation, for job development, and to move Pennsylvania forward. This is one of them, and there have been many, many, many others. I hope when we return in the fall, and as we look forward to our next budgetary process, that when this side of the aisle comes forth with those kinds of ideas, I hope there is the willingness and the eagerness to support those with the same type of willingness and eagerness that you see on this side of the aisle to support this.

Judith Schwank (Democrat, District 11), Legislative Journal, No. 46, p. 734, https://davidpassmore.net/blogd/files/leg/2012copy.pdf.

Mr. President, I appreciate the opportunity to speak on this. You know, most folks who are listening to this back at home or when I try to explain it really do not under-stand how complex budgeting is here in the State Capitol. They think there is one big budget bill and we vote on it and then that is the end of it, but in reality, that is not the case. Of course here we are discussing House Bill No. 761, which is the Tax Code. Also, it has very key and important parts in our budget that we really must consider very carefully.

This bill, perhaps as its centerpiece, has the tax credit for the plant which will utilize the natural gas we are extracting through-out Pennsylvania and use it to make it into very valuable components that we can use in manufacturing. In fact, some of that manufacturing occurs in my district too. But even if it did not, I would be in support of this. I really want to be careful to say that I do not want to be parochial about this, I care about all Pennsylvanians. I want everybody to have a good job, if possible. I truly believe that this program or project will create many, many jobs and will get us back into the manufacturing game in a way that we have not been. I do not believe that we are not in manufacturing in Pennsylvania, but this will certainly enhance our economic capability here in the Commonwealth.

Anthony Williams (Democrat, District 8), Legislative Journal, No. 46, p. 734, https://davidpassmore.net/blogd/files/leg/2012copy.pdf.

Mr. President, I wish I could be as magnanimous as my previous counterpart and suggest that I am not going to be parochial. I am going to be parochial. While I am concerned about the welfare of the Commonwealth with regard to jobs, there are a number of refineries that constituents of mine who have been there for generations are now finding themselves unemployed. Sunoco and its decision to move on has had not just a minor effect upon Marcus Hook or the southwest Philadelphia community, but it had a major impact upon proud Philadelphians and Delaware Countians who have, for their lifetimes, similar to Senator Boscola’s father, been employed in a particular way. Generations had found fertile ground if they were not able to go on to college and did not have the opportunity, were able to feed their families and provide a stable background.

This new industry, which is arriving in waves, in titanic waves to the shores of Pennsylvania, will find itself to southeastern Pennsylvania for a while, which is said, what is the benefit of this new industry? Well, literally, this tax credit is not just about shale or a shale company, it is about the cracker industry and what it can do for all of Pennsylvania. So while many people line up to this mike in very familiar territory, I want people to understand that those of us who argue at this mike for the least of us are also going to be joined at this mike when it comes to industrial outcome and a robust economy. It is not the government which will put us back on our feet, it is the private sector, and we have to embrace that. I received phone calls from all parts of our community - union, private sector, those who are unemployed, those who are employed, engineers, and high schools - all having the hope that this industry will land in some part of southeastern Pennsylvania and provide the same hope that the Marcellus Shale wave has presented to western Pennsylvania. I am delighted to see that there is an opportunity not just for one segment of Pennsylvania, but for all of Pennsylvania. That in fact we, like Oklahoma, can become the centerpiece of an energy industry, which is what will prevent us from being so dependent upon foreign shores across this country. So I hope that today’s vote will not just be a symbolic one, but in fact a new start of how we collectively, bipartisanly, and creatively can carve out an economy for all of Pennsylvania regardless of where you live. So I too line up to support this particular piece of legislation.

Thank you, Mr. President.

Jay Costa (Democrat, District 46), Legislative Journal, No. 46, pp. 734-735, https://davidpassmore.net/blogd/files/leg/2012copy.pdf.

Mr. President, I also rise to lend my support to House Bill No. 761, as we know is the Tax Code bill. Mr. President, as some of my colleagues, and Senator Schwank in particular, recognized and referenced that through this budget process, there are a lot of other bills that are a major part of the implementation of the budget, but also matters that must be addressed before we take our summer recess that are very, very important to this Commonwealth outside of the General Appropriation bill which we adopted earlier today. Mr. President, this is very much one of those bills. There has been a lot of talk about what we refer to as the cracker facility tax credit, the Shell tax credit, and I do not want to lose sight of some of the other bills that are parts and pieces of this Tax Code and I think are beneficial to Pennsylvania.

Senator Schwank spoke about the inheritance tax issue and the realty transfer tax issue with respect to agriculture and how important they are. I know that Senator Blake has been working on tax credit language that is encompassed in this bill. Senator Ferlo has spoken about realty transfer tax to avoid a loophole that is there, and the list can go on. There are a number of those types of things contained in this bill that are very, very important to allow us to go back into our communities and let our folks know that we have been working to address these issues.

But as relates to the tax credit program, I am a supporter of the concept and will be voting in the affirmative, as I stated. As I see it, Mr. President, in this General Assembly and in this Commonwealth and in our roles, and I have said it before, we have a choice. We can stand up and make investments to try to facilitate investments of others and by others in our regions, or we can sit back and we can manage decline. In this particular case, we think it is imperative that we work together with the industry that is developing in the southwestern part of the State, and look at the things that can be done with respect to the use of this tax credit. A lot has been said about the downstream benefits, the subsequent establishment and creation of industries in southwestern Pennsylvania that we hope, and I strongly believe, will take place as a result of the tax credit proposal, and the program that will allow that to take place. But in order to make it work, we also need to have upstream incentives, and that is exactly what is going to take place, I think as Senator Mary Jo White referenced earlier, how important it is to be able to use the resources that are going to come out of the ground in southwestern Pennsylvania and in a tri-State area, to be able to drive those resources to this facility to allow the sustainability of the subsequent manufacturing firms and industries that would be created there.

At the end of the day, this is going to create jobs, first and foremost in the construction industry for the next several years, talking about 5,000 to 6,000 to 10,000 jobs. In fact, it was reported that we will have 10,000 people at a peak time working on this facility. Let us stop and think about what that means, 10,000 people they say will be working on this facility getting it ready. That is a pretty significant number of individuals who will be employed from across our region, and that is something that is a benefit to this. But the upstream and downstream benefits in particular are something we need to look at. The number of jobs created at the Shell facility in and of itself I think will be 400 to 500. Those will be good paying, family sustaining jobs. What I imagine and what I heard are positions like chemists, chemical engineers, mechanical engineers, and the like. But more importantly, the secondary industries that will be created. They will become – our universities and our colleges and our apprentice programs and the trade unions will become the feeder system to be able to put folks to work in those industries and in this facility, and that is what I am excited about.

So for a number of reasons that I have articulated, I stand here to lend my support to a program that I believe will revitalize, and as Senator White indicated, will be a global game changer for southwestern Pennsylvania and hopefully it will spread across this wonderful and beautiful Commonwealth.

Andrew Dinniman (Democrat, District 19), Legislative Journal, No. 46, p. 735, https://davidpassmore.net/blogd/files/leg/2012copy.pdf.

Mr. President, let me be brief, which is not easy for me. I sat here and listened to this debate. I rose in opposition because I believe our industry in the southeast is re-ally being hurt - Bucks, Montgomery, Chester Counties. I will vote for this bill, after I listened to this debate, but I vote for it in the hope that my other southeastern Senators, under the leader-ship of Senator Pileggi, will rise to help this industry in the next year.

So when we come to this debate, hopefully western Pennsylvania will prosper by this, but hopefully we will, as a body, also unite in helping that industry in the southeastern part of the State, which is at the absolute core of our economic prosperity in the southeast. You know, whether I am talking Bucks County, Chester County, Montgomery County, or the Lehigh Valley, a loss of this industry–and we are losing, if you look at the statistics, Pennsylvania is now one of the only seven States that is losing establishments and is losing employees in the United States. The rest of the United States is taking our companies from us, and this is hurting us. So I will support this bill. But again, I do so in the spirit and the hope, Mr. President, and you are from our region as well, that together we will help our region.

Finally, let me say, I hope that this debate ends once and for all the rhetoric I sometimes hear from my Republican brothers and sisters to just let the free market economy work. Hey, listen, tax policy that Senator Mensch speaks about, what we are doing today, choosing winners and losers, is part of the global economy, is part of the economics that is played both in the United States and globally. So let us end the rhetoric that somehow we just amazingly allow this free market economy to work, because that is not what we are doing today. We are choosing a winner and using our tax credits. I am not saying it is wrong, it is the way the economy works, but after this vote, it will be very unfair for my Republican colleagues to continue the rhetoric that it is an unabashed free market economy. But I will support this.

Timothy Solobay (Democrat, District 48), Legislative Journal, No. 46, pp. 735-736, https://davidpassmore.net/blogd/files/leg/2012copy.pdf.

Mr. President, I am glad to hear my colleague from the southeast and his pronouncement here right before me. I contemplated whether or not I would bring remarks to the floor, but I look at this as another opportunity to maybe advance something that we can talk about and look at in the fall and maybe as time moves forward. You have heard through the Tax Code bill all the different things that are going to be affected and the things that are going to be helpful from not only the cracker tax credit portion but the agricultural side of things, other business-related things, the film tax credit, agriculture, as well as some of the historical property and the things that will be benefitted by this Tax Code.

Christine Tartaglione (Democrat, District 2), Legislative Journal, No. 46, pp. 676-677, https://davidpassmore.net/blogd/files/leg/2012copy.pdf.

2013

February 6, 2013

John Blake (Democrat, District 22), Legislative Journal, No. 9, p. 142, https://davidpassmore.net/blogd/files/leg/2013copy.pdf.

The cracker plant in Beaver County, I supported that. Some of my colleagues supported it. Tax credits, one of the largest tax credits in the history of our Commonwealth, 15,000 new jobs. Do any of you know how many will actually come from Pennsylvania? I do not. Will they come from the corporate office, will they come from another State? We have a responsibility to represent 12 million people.

2014

April 29, 2014

James Ferlo (Democrat, District 38), Legislative Journal, No. 24, p. 1676, https://davidpassmore.net/blogd/files/leg/2014copy.pdf.

I want to remind folks, I voted for the cracker plant because I believe strongly in economic development. If there is going to be a cracker plant and all it is hoped for, immediacy of limited number of construction jobs during the build and post-employment with ancillary companies that would develop as a result of a cracker plant being located. If it is going to be 40 miles from Pittsburgh in Ohio, or 35 miles to West Virginia from Pittsburgh, I would rather see it in Pennsylvania. So I voted for that because consistently we Democrats and Republicans have joined together to support appropriate economic development. But to me, there is another big leap to support the inappropriate practices of the industry. We need to strengthen our environment, our health, and the quality of life that we expect for our constituents and their respective communities. So, I do not see a contradiction here, but we are losing sight of both our legislative and our moral obligations to protect the public interest. We can have this industry develop to some extent. I think we should greatly control where and when and how it drills to a far greater extent than Act 13 has allowed.

June 26,2014

Jay Costa (Democrat, District 43), Legislative Journal, No. 41, p. 2009, https://davidpassmore.net/blogd/files/leg/2014copy.pdf.

One of the main areas is along the line of tax credits that are provided across the Commonwealth. The budget that was just passed out of committee and came over from the House and looks to be the foundation of what is going forward eliminates those tax credits except for a couple, and one is the cracker facility tax credit. Another one is the film tax credit, as well as the EITC. All very, very good tax credit programs, and I supported the cracker tax credit a couple of years back because I think it will grow jobs. That makes sense, but what does not make sense is when you strip out the other tax credits that help grow jobs. They help us in our neighborhoods.

2019

November 19, 2019

Camera Barlotta (Republican, District 43), Legislative Journal, No. 33, p. 696, https://davidpassmore.net/blogd/files/leg/2019copy.pdf.

As the chair of the Senate Committee on Labor and Industry, I have spoken to numerous trade unions throughout the State and have observed the partnership that exists between our trade schools, unions, and energy employers. This is partnership that insures these high-paying, skilled jobs are filled by our local workforce. For example, let us take a look at Shell’s ethane cracker plant in Beaver County, which is one of the largest economic investments to impact Pennsylvania since World War II.

This investment will utilize hundreds of local contractors and suppliers, employ thousands of construction workers, and promise to create numerous permanent positions upon completion of the facility. However, as part of this partnership with the community, Shell has a $1.5 million investment in local education and training programs, such as the creation of new STEM labs to insure students are equipped for the jobs of the future. Shell is also to be commended for its commitment to help local veterans by providing training for various positions that will be needed within the new facility.

We must work together to avoid implementing unnecessary roadblocks that would halt this industry’s progress and instead focus our efforts on supporting a safe and reliable natural gas infrastructure, workforce development initiatives, and job training programs to strengthen our communities. In addition, as a mother of two grown children whom I have raised in this community, I can assure you that I take the safety and well-being of my constituents very seriously. While I understand the need for jobs and opportunities, I also support transparency and responsible regulations. It is time we pursue commonsense policies and not jeopardize local priorities, job growth, economic development, and improved environmental outcomes for the sake of political ideology.

Last updated on

[1] "2022-09-02 12:37:00 EDT"

Acknowledgements

Ellysa Cahoy, Education & Behavioral Sciences Librarian at Penn State University, guided me through the thick forests of online information pertaining to words and actions of the Pennsylvania Legislature. She found links to the transcripts that I coded and reported here. Ms. Cahoy and Chungil Chae, another collaborator, are conducting an analysis of the text in the passages reported in this blog posting.

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from the record – what PA state senators said about the PA Petrochemicals Complex during legislative sessions