Rendell receives support from Fayette Democrats
Ed Rendell won the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in the May primary with little support from Fayette County voters and elected officials. He came to the county Thursday – four months before he faces Republican candidate and Attorney General Mike Fisher in the general election for the governor’s office – and received the full endorsement of the Democratic Party.
Party Chairman Fred Lebder said the county’s Democratic elected officials and state legislators “100 percent will support Ed Rendell. He is the best person for Fayette County.”
Rendell said he has been campaigning across the state since the May 21 primary, meeting with two types of Democrats – those who supported him and those who voted for his opponent Auditor General Robert P. Casey Jr.
“Every Democrat had every right to support Casey,” Rendell, a former Philadelphia mayor, said. “I didn’t have much support in Fayette County.
But he has it now as County Commissioners Vince Vicites and Sean Cavanagh, District Attorney Nancy Vernon, Sheriff Gary Brownfield and Lebder stood at Rendell’s side at the endorsement announcement held in the Holiday Inn.
“With the support of these elected officials, we can win the general election,” Rendell said.
Vicites said one of the reasons he decided to back Rendell was his promise to support the completion of the Mon-Fayette Expressway.
“I was satisfied by his commitment to the expressway,” Vicites said. “Fayette County won’t fully enjoy economic development without the expressway.”
He also liked Rendell’s plan to expand the state’s Capital Redevelopment Assistance program, which directed $2 million toward development of the Penn State Technology Park.
Vicites said county funds could also be leveraged through state bond issues to pay for infrastructure development at the Fayette County Business Park.
Rendell said he would, if elected, dramatically expand the Capital Redevelopment Assistance program, which uses state bonds, to generate economic growth.
In Fayette County, the program would be used to improve blighted areas and rebuild telecommunication systems and infrastructure, Rendell said.
Expanding that programs was among the promises he made Thursday.
“Pennsylvania is a boat that needs a little rocking,” Rendell said.
Once an “economic engine,” Pennsylvania is now 48th among the states in economic growth and 49th in population growth. “You’re losing your young people,” he said.
One third of the state’s school districts have budget deficits and Pennsylvania is one of only nine states that do not subsidize pre-school programs, Rendell said.
He also noted that the surplus that was in the state budget when he started his campaign in February 2001 is now a deficit.
His plans for change include increasing the corporate research and development tax credit from $15 million to $16 million.
Rendell said he would increase school subsidies from the current rate that covers approximately 34 percent of school districts’ operating budgets to more than 50 percent.
He said he wants to decrease real estate taxes for all residence by approximately 30 percent, find more than $1.5 billion in new revenue and improve the state’s tax collection rate.
Vowing not to “dilly dally,” Rendell said he would convene a special session for the legislature beginning the day after his inauguration to address new revenue sources and to find a way to achieve the 30 percent tax cut.
He said is in favor of completing the expressway, calling it a “huge economic generator.”
When asked if he could expedite the pre-construction approval process for the toll road, Rendell said: “We’ll find out how fast.”
Rendell also said that his experience in government makes him more qualified than Fisher to be the next governor. He promised not to run a negative campaign.
He described Fisher as a “solid” attorney general and a good (former) state senator.
“Mike Fisher is experienced, but he hasn’t run a large government,” Rendell said.
There is no experience like “looking down the barrel” of a weak economy and struggling schools, Rendell said, noting that he faced and corrected both problems when he was Philadelphia’s mayor.
He said Fisher’s plan to cut taxes and control spending would not be enough to cure the state’s ills.
“Pennsylvania is a state that needs significant changes,” Rendell said.