Politics on the menu at chamber luncheon

In addition to salad, an entrée and dessert, the menu at the Southern Chester County Chamber of Commerce fall lunch at Hartfeld Country Club included six helpings of politicians.

There were three incumbent Republicans currently representing the 13th, 158th and 160th Legislative Districts as well as their three Democratic Party challengers.

The theme for the politicians was “Facing the challenges that affect businesses bottom line.”

From left are State Rep. John Lawrence, R-13, his challenger Ann Schott, state Rep. Chris Ross, R-158, his challenger Susan Rzucidlo, state rep, Stephen Barrar, R-160, and his challenger Whitney Hoffman.
From left are State Rep. John Lawrence, R-13, his challenger Ann Schott, state Rep. Chris Ross, R-158, his challenger Susan Rzucidlo, state Rep. Stephen Barrar, R-160, and his challenger Whitney Hoffman.

Representing the 158th district is Chris Ross who had planned to leave the house at the end of this, his ninth term. However, the candidate the Republican Party endorsed as his replacement stepped down and Ross was persuaded to go for another term.

Ross said economic development, taxes and education were his primary concerns. In his opening remarks he said he was able to get legislation passed that’s aimed at streamlining and creating more flexibility for economic development in the state. He explained that money could be transferred from one area of development to another more readily if needed.

As an example, he said money could be moved to job training programs if there was extra money for infrastructure.

Ross also said the state has more programs than are actually needed.

“We tend to add programs from governor to governor. When we did a review, we found there were 85 separate economic development programs here in Pennsylvania…When you think functionally, there really are only a few things we need to do,” he said.

Those things include job training, infrastructure, start up funding and technical assistance.

Ross, and all the others said there needs to be a revamping of the state’s pension system so that more money can go toward education.

His opponent in the upcoming election is Democrat Susan Rzucidlo who has challenged him before.

She began by focusing on the budget, saying, “Budgets reflect value. You invest in things that are important to you. You spend on things that are important to you…What I’ve been seeing of the budgets recently in Pennsylvania, is they haven’t reflected the values of Pennsylvanians. They haven’t reflected the values of small businesses…These budget have reflected the values of high dollar donors to political campaigns.”

Rzucidlo said there has been a downward trend in job creation in the state, saying that since 2010, when the state ranked number seven in job creation, Pennsylvania has dropped to number 47.

She said natural gas companies that promised to bring in jobs brought in only four-tenths of 1 percent of job creation: “We were sold a bill of goods.”

Rzucidlo said Pennsylvania must become a state where people can start businesses, grow businesses and grow families.

Stephen Barrar, the current representative for the 160th Legislative District and his challenger Whitney Hoffman also took part.

Barrar said one of the biggest hurdles facing family-owned businesses and farms is the inheritance tax.

He said the number one reason farms are sold in this state is because of the inheritance tax. Barrar cited friends who owned a farm and were hit with almost a $1 million inheritance tax.

“Our inheritance tax is the most immoral tax we have because we tax you at a higher rate when you’re dead,” he said.

However, Barrar does advocate a tax on Marcellus Shale.

Hoffman took issue with one of Barrar’s points, that of shifting school funding from property taxes to a combination of income and sales taxes.  She said that would be a boon for the state of Delaware since the 160th is on the state line, and it’s a simple matter for Pennsylvania residents to drive into Delaware where there is no sales tax.

As others have said, Hoffman, too, said a reform of the state employee pension system is needed to get more money into the classroom. One method she and Barrar advocate is to shift the pension to a 401K-type of system. Hoffman, however, wants that to buried with state legislators first to work out the bugs before applying such a plan to government workers.

Hoffman took issue with one of Barrar’s points, that of shifting school funding from property taxes to a combination of income and sales taxes.  She said that would be a boom for the state of Delaware since the 160th is on the state line and it’s a simple matter for Pennsylvania residents to drive into Delaware where there is no sales tax.

John Lawrence currently represents the 13th Legislative District, which covers Avondale and west past the Oxford and Cochranville area toward Lancaster County. His challenger is Ann Schott, a retired teacher from the Unionville-Chadds Ford School District.

Schott’s focus is on education and related that to business. She said that a sound education makes for good employees and that “businesses need a skilled workforce” with employees who bring a strong foundation to the job.

“Getting the best employees depends on the availability of good, local schools,” she said.

She is an advocate of Common Core and is concerned that the state has abandoned a sound program of funding education.

“We made great gains under our previous school funding formula… Abandoning that formula was a terrible mistake. We are now just one of three states in the country without a fair funding formula,” Schott said.

Lawrence was elected to the House in 2010.

As is Barrar, Lawrence is concerned about the economic of health small, family-owned businesses and said the most harrowing time is when the patriarch of such a business dies.

“Fewer than 1`5 percent of those businesses make it to the third generation,” Lawrence said.

He’s in favor of the failed liquor privatization bill because, he said, the state has no business being in that business.

“That bill was a small business bill. It was not written for the Walmarts of the world,” he said.

Lawrence also favors the Education Improvement Tax Credit program that gives business owners the opportunity to put money toward private and public school education for children of low income families in exchange for a tax credit.

About Rich Schwartzman

Rich Schwartzman has been reporting on events in the greater Chadds Ford area since September 2001 when he became the founding editor of The Chadds Ford Post. In April 2009 he became managing editor of ChaddsFordLive. He is also an award-winning photographer.

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