JACKSON TWP — Pennsylvania legislators representing portions of Butler County shared their priorities at a Butler County Chamber of Commerce event Friday morning, May 3, where the conversation centered on energy, retooling business regulations and maintaining state revenue sources.

In attendance at the Steamfitters Event Center were state Sens. Scott Hutchinson, R-21st, and Elder Vogel, R-47th; and state Reps. Aaron Bernstine, R-8th, Marci Mustello, R-11th, Stephenie Scialabba, R-12th, and Tim Bonner, R-17th.

Hutchinson started by speaking about the state’s power grid, and its potential use for other energy sources, like solar and wind power, which he said are not currently feasible. He also highlighted his position as chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, which he said intersects with energy in that energy is one of Pennsylvania’s biggest exports.

In his opening remarks, Hutchinson said the region could experience “brown outs” or “blackouts” because of the increase in electric use, combined with changing priorities on energy generation.

“Pennsylvania is an energy giant — we have so much energy here — and we produce more energy than we use as a state and that’s a good thing,” Hutchinson said. “Across the board there is this push to move us even faster to electric use, but on the backside of that, we have a major push, mostly through government policies, to move to intermittent electric sources — solar, wind, they are not always on.”

Hutchinson said the number of windmills and solar panels that would be necessary to replace electricity generators in Pennsylvania are infeasible. According to Hutchinson, replacing a 2,200 megawatt facility would take more than 15,000 acres of solar panels, or 1,400 windmills to generate an equal amount of power.

Hutchinson added that getting the budget done on time is a priority to him, although legislators will have to make difficult decisions in money allocation. He said Gov. Josh Shapiro’s many directives could slow down budget negotiations. Those directives, which Shapiro would like done by July 1, include discussions about raising the minimum wage, legalizing recreational marijuana, reorganizing higher education and reforming the state’s energy policy, he said.

“It is in none of our best interests to have a late budget; we want our school districts, nonprofits, other government agencies to have predictability in the amount of money they have to spend,” Hutchinson said. “Our sails have to be trimmed and we have to think about priorities first, and I think one of those priorities is the blueprint of how our state spends money each year.”

Vogel said as chairman of the Senate Agricultural and Rural Affairs Committee, he, too, is concerned about alternative energy sources’ impact on the farming community. He noted that 20,000 to 30,000 acres of prime farmland could be lost to solar fields needed to generate estimated power needs by 2030.

He also said his focus is on cutting back on government regulations for businesses, in the name of bringing more business to Pennsylvania.

“Everybody wants to be a business-friendly state, but at the same time, you can’t be a business-friendly state and have all these regulations,” Vogel said. “West Virginia is building a 2,000 megawatt gas-powered power plant, so we’re sitting on some of the most gas in the world … We haven’t built a plant here in Pennsylvania for a number of years.”

Vogel also highlighted the need for broadband access throughout the state, and said grants are available to agencies looking to expand internet access to underserved communities.

He said he was happy to see the recent signing of a bill he was the prime sponsor of, which would expand access to sexual assault nurse examiners.

“If you are a rape victim and go to a hospital, you have a nurse there who is the examiner — it’s a time-consuming thing to do right,” he said. “Make sure it’s done right and not have to go someplace out of state to get it done because that would only have the victim re-traumatized.”

Vogel also said he was initially concerned about a bill that would allow police departments to use radar, but was reassured with a limit on how much money a municipality could collect from traffic fines. The Senate passed a bill on its use twice now, according to Hutchinson.

“A certain percent of your budget can only be made up of fines from radar fines, I guess, so it’s not like a small community can make $200,000 in fines off speeding tickets,” Vogel said.

Bernstine also voiced concerns about education and said spending on education could be mended by further allowance of school choice, and the merging of school districts with relatively small attendance. He also said the school district he lives in — but does not send his children to — Mohawk Area School District, should disband in favor of consolidating districts.

“If you really want to get them merged, here’s how you do it, you actually pass measures for school choice, and several of these districts will just go away and be forced to merge into something else,” Bernstine said. “Mohawk just needs to go away, and then some kids need to go to Union, some kids need to go to Shenango.”

In response to a question about prioritizing Pennsylvania’s next budget, Bernstine said he would fight “massive spending” proposed by Shapiro, even if it results in a budget impasse. He said Pennsylvania spends too much on public education, saying some school districts waste money.

“Sometimes the answer has to be, ‘No,’” Bernstine said. “There are other schools, not necessarily here, but where money ends up going … In Philadelphia, where they are spending $30,000 per student K-12, and zero kids that are proficient in math, reading, anything.”

Mustello said her aims for legislation lie in reforming small games of chance laws in Pennsylvania, continuing to review and possibly amend liquor licensing laws, and bringing agricultural organizations, such as National FFA Organization, back to schools.

“I really want to get that back into schools, to get them away from phones, get them away from their iPads and actually do something outside,” Mustello said.

Mustello also said Pennsylvania should not only produce more of its own energy, but export more natural gas outside the state to gain revenues.

“The environmentalists that are very concerned about the environment, we have proven time and time again what we are doing is very safe and effective,” Mustello said. “There is no reason we can’t build these terminals and move the product that we have out.”

In her opening remarks, Scialabba said her interests for the second year of her first term lie in “restoring a sense of normalcy, having stability and predictability in our economy,” and producing domestic energy and helping taxpayers and businesses.

Scialabba also said artificial intelligence is a growing concern for her, but it is difficult to make laws around with its technology advancing so quickly. She said the public sector would be harder for legislators to target for artificial intelligence regulations, but analyzing businesses’ use of the technology could inform state decisions.

“There’s a lot of goods that come from the use of automation … but when it starts to encroach into areas of substantive work, we get a little concerned,” she said. “Artificial intelligence is also subject to human error, because it just basically regurgitates whatever you put into it.”

Scialabba said she introduced legislation to ease inheritance taxing of 529 plans, so money saved for education can be passed within a family without as much eaten up by taxes.

She also said the U.S. Department of Energy’s recent ruling on new energy regulations will not be the last time Cleveland-Cliffs Butler Works plant is threatened, because the state has not addressed its reaction to mandates that come on a federal level.

“All they did was kick the can down the road,” Scialabba said. “That is going to come back to bite us again, and again and again, until we get legislation that will actually stop the overreach of the fourth arm of government now, these agencies that are filled with unelected bureaucrats.

“We need to come together, union, nonunion, and we need to rally against all this overreach that is going to absolutely kill our economy here.”

In his opening remarks, Bonner said he is in the throes of advocating for the impeachment of Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner. Bonner said Krasner is “very progressive” and “refuses to enforce certain state laws” which is cause for his removal from the office.

“This will only be the second impeachment trial in the history of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,” Bonner said.

Bonner also said issues in state public education funding should be addressed by the reconfiguration of its funding source. He said at the breakfast that Pennsylvania spends a lot per student compared to other states, even though public school enrollment has fallen when compared to 20 to 25 years ago.

Bonner added that he would not support a budget with too high of a deficit or one that relies heavily on the implementation of money in the state’s reserves. However, he said reforming the tax structure for public school funding to focus on equity could improve outcomes at districts with less local funding.

“We have 140,000 less students in our public schools today than we had 20 years ago … and a 40% growth in administrators,” Bonner said. “If we reform tax structures and look at the equity of our schools, we can help those poorer school districts that don’t have the tax base in property tax.”

Bonner also said he is against the legalization of recreational marijuana, saying that revenue it generates is not worth the amount Pennsylvania would spend on announcements advocating against its use, as well as its impact on public health.

“In 20 to 30 years, we’ll be spending billions of dollars to tell people, ‘Don’t use this stuff,’” he said. “If you need it medical, you can get it now, but to have it available just as recreational use, the social costs are so high.”