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GPCC Advances Regional Transportation, Workforce and Tax Priorities in Washington, D.C.
The Greater Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce (GPCC) led a regional delegation visit to Washington D.C. last month to advocate on issues critical to economic development, job growth and quality of life in the 10-county Pittsburgh region.
Delegation members met with members of Congress from Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia region to advance regional priorities including the Pittsburgh Downtown-Uptown-Oakland-East End Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project; reauthorization of the Perkins Career & Technical Education Act; and the need for comprehensive federal tax reform.
Bus Rapid Transit Project
The GPCC strongly supports the Pittsburgh Downtown-Uptown-Oakland-East End BRT project - a key regional infrastructure priority that will connect the job centers of downtown Pittsburgh and Oakland, through Uptown, with additional connections through several east end neighborhoods of Pittsburgh. Last month, the CEO board members of the Allegheny Conference submitted a letter to U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao in support of Small Starts funding for the Pittsburgh Downtown-Uptown-Oakland-East End Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project. We continue to work with our public and private sector partners to secure the necessary funding to advance this vital project.
Career and Technical Education
The GPCC supports H.R. 2353, the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act, sponsored by Congressman G.T. Thompson. This bill addresses career and technical education challenges cited in the Allegheny Conference's Inflection Point report including the need for more effective employer-educator relationships, alignment of programs with high-demand occupations, and the need to address the career and technical education funding shortfalls that school districts face by spending federal funds more effectively. H.R. 2353 passed out of the House of Representatives in June of 2017. The GPCC is urging the Senate to advance this legislation.
Tax Reform
During the visit to the nation's capital, the GPCC also expressed support for comprehensive federal tax reform legislation that lowers the corporate tax rate to a level that will enable U.S. businesses to compete successfully in the global economy, attract foreign investment to the U.S., increase capital for investment, and drive job creation.
Earlier this week, the Trump Administration and leadership from the House and Senate released tax framework intended to represent a significant step toward the goal of enacting comprehensive tax reform this year. You can read a summary of this framework from K&L Gates here.
For more information on the GPCC's federal advocacy agenda, click here.
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Photos: 2017 Elected Officials Reception - Washington D.C.
The 14th Annual Washington, D.C. Elected Officials Reception, one of the GPCC's three annual legislative receptions, was held on September 13 at Bullfeathers on Capitol Hill. Once again, the event was well attended by members of Congress from across the state, their staffs, and a sizable number of members of the GPCC. We thank all of our sponsors of the reception. Without their support, these important events could not take place.
Thank you to the sponsors of the 14th Annual Pittsburgh Region / Washington, D.C. Elected Officials Reception:
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Matt Smith in PBT: It's Time to Leverage Our Inherent Assets
GPCC President Matt Smith authored a column in the Pittsburgh Business Times inviting stakeholders to join in a dialogue around a growth agenda focused on capital and infrastructure investment; workforce development and education; and tax and regulatory policy to benefit our communities, our region and our Commonwealth.
"From education to healthcare to economic equity, no matter what the problems or issues we as a region desire to address, it is easier to design and implement solutions within the context of a robust economy."
- Matt Smith, President, Greater Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce
To read Matt's column, please click here.
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Forging the Future
One economic opportunity the region has seized over the past decade is our world class energy assets. We’ve utilized our position as the largest metro atop the Marcellus and Utica Shale formations to attract investments that span the supply chain and create jobs. The region’s success in this area has helped Pennsylvania become a leader in U.S. and global gas production. However, a new analysis is giving us reasons to believe we have not yet seen the full economic benefit yet as well as a path forward on how to maximize it.
Led by a new initiative called “Forge the Future” from Peoples Naturals Gas and Chevron, we now have a comprehensive examination of Pennsylvania’s economic opportunity from our natural gas resources. The assessment shows we can still see a staggering amount of potential benefits from natural gas, from billions added to the state’s GDP to as many as 100,000 jobs being created.
Read the op-ed in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from Morgan O’Brien, GPCC chair and president and CEO of Peoples Natural Gas, and Stacey Olson, president of Chevron Appalachia, LLC.
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