HARRISBURG, September 27, 2011 – State Senator Richard Kasunic (D-Fayette/Somerset) joined fellow Senate Democrats in unveiling a plan they say would create thousands of new jobs and encourage economic development.
“This plan taps existing resources to generate investment opportunities and get people to work,” Kasunic said yesterday at a Capitol news conference. “We have to do what we can at the state level to help get the ball rolling.”
Kasunic said the plan would use PENNVEST dollars, a proposed fee on gas drillers, Commonwealth Finance Authority monies and surplus state revenue to invest $1.2 billion into public works projects, water system reconstruction and business start-ups.
Called “PA Works NOW,” Kasunic said the plan would create the Pennsylvania Investment Bank to capture funds generated from various sources and existing borrowing capacity.
He said he favors using some of the money generated from a fee on Marcellus Shale drillers for the investment bank with a significant share going to local impacted communities and environmental clean-up.
“This plan would accomplish a lot without hitting taxpayers in the pocketbook,” Kasunic said. “We have to do what we can to prime our economic pump. This legislature needs to make job creation our top priority. I hope majority Republicans will work with us on this critical issue.”
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