Dan Onorato

Gubernatorial candidate Onorato focused on jobs

March 2, 2010
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Democratic gubernatorial candidate Dan Onorato said during a visit to the Delaware County Daily Times that his first priority if elected would be creating jobs and righting the state’s economy.

“The real issue for me is creating the environment in the state for the private sector to grow and to bring the jobs here,” said Onorato, 49, of Pittsburgh.

To that end, the former Pittsburgh city councilman and former Allegheny County controller has proposed restructuring the corporate tax code to make the state more attractive to prospective businesses.

Onorato said he would also continue basic education funding at levels proposed under a 2007 costing-out study, double Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency grants and ensure community colleges are training students for jobs companies need.

“We’ve got to have the best-trained work force if we’re going to compete,” he said. “This is all about jobs and keeping us competitive and turning the state around.”

Onorato has also proposed increasing funding levels for the Department of Environmental Protection, which saw a 27 percent cut in the last budget.

He said funding could come from severance taxes on natural gas extracted from the Marcellus Shale region, and would not only help the department oversee environmental issues there, but also provide resources for a quicker turnaround on permitting. He’s aiming for about four months, which he said gives businesses time to plan, budget or fix what they need to if denied.

“That’s just being business friendly,” said Onorato. “If we’re going to turn the state around and we’re going to encourage jobs to be here and we’re going to encourage companies to invest their money here, you’ve got to send out the signal (that) we’re open for business, we want those jobs here.”

Onorato, a certified public accountant, has additionally called for a reduction in the state Legislature similar to reductions he has made in Allegheny County government, where he has served as county executive since 2004.

“I downsized the payroll by 10 percent, I consolidated elected offices from 10 to four, we consolidated 911 centers from five to one, cleaned up about 1,500 acres of ‘brownfields’ — old industrial sites — and prepared shovel-ready sites for development, and we convinced a lot of our local companies to expand on those sites,” he said. “We have now turned the economy around, we were able to grow jobs and I’m running for governor because I believe we can do the same thing for the state.”

Onorato faces Scranton Mayor Chris Doherty, former U.S. Rep. Joe Hoeffel and state Auditor General Jack Wagner in the Democratic primary.

Republican candidates for governor include state Attorney General Tom Corbett, state Rep. Sam Rohrer, R-128, and U.S. Army National Guardsman Robert Allen Mansfield.