Oct 25, 2005 By Josh Krysak 4 min read

A few hundred-area Republicans turned out on a snowy Monday night to drop $25 a plate at Shadyside Inn in Uniontown and hear the views of gubernatorial candidates hoping to earn the party’s endorsement for the 2006 election. And while the party’s big-name candidate, former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Lynn Swann was not in attendance, two other Republican contenders and a Swann representative laid out their plans for the state and their respective campaigns.

All the candidates agreed on some principal topics including tax cuts and the recent legislative pay-raise, but their plans varied on the details.

Bill Scranton, former lieutenant governor under Dick Thornburgh and 25-year businessman, said his campaign will focus on tax reforms to turn the state’s economic future back to what Scranton described as “lean and competitive.”

“We need to cut government growth, institute tax reform and promote a new culture in Harrisburg,” Scranton said.

Scranton, who lives in Scranton, a town named after his family, said the state’s government is growing at two times the rate of the state’s economy – something Scranton believes is a recipe for disaster.

Scranton said using the coal industry to fight the growing energy crisis and creating jobs are areas he hopes to focus on if elected.

“People can make an investment anywhere now,” Scranton said. “We need a good tax structure and an educated workforce.”

Scranton said he is opposed to the current pet project of Gov. Edward G. Rendell to reform property taxes through gambling legislation and called the controversial Act 72 a “gimmick to bring gambling to the state.”

“People need real property tax reform,” Scranton said. “This is not going to cut it.”

Current state senator and Republican gubernatorial candidate Jeff Piccola agreed. “The big thing is property tax reform,” the 10-year senate veteran from the Harrisburg area said. “Under my plan we would eliminate property tax for public schools completely.”

Piccola, who also spent 19 years as a state representative, said he is proposing a plan to expand the sales tax to things like clothing and food and eliminate the school property tax as well as reduce the overall rate of sales tax.

“You would pay less tax on more things,” Piccola said.

Piccola said he would also turn his attention to the economy, using tax cuts to spur the economy and to market the state to new growth.

“We need to make our state competitive with our sister states,” he said.

Piccola, who also noted he voted against the legislative pay raise, said that if elected he would also focus on curbing what he called a “judicial hell hole,” describing the state’s record of lawsuit abuses.

“We have runaway lawsuits that prevent jobs from creation affect health care costs and coverage,” Piccola said.

Piccola said reducing the lawsuits would result in increasing the jobs and the state’s marketability.

Another candidate is also focused on the state’s marketability.

Executive director of the Lynn Swann “Team 88” campaign, Ray Zaborney, said Swann is focused on raising money and visiting now in the early stages of the campaign but said Swann has made it clear that job creation is his top priority.

Zaborney said Swann has an aggressive plan to create more jobs in the commonwealth that combines tax relief, property tax reform, spending caps for the government and continued development of infrastructure across the state.

And Zaborney said Swann, if elected, would eventually want to create a new state position, “chief sales person,” to continue to promote growth statewide.

Zaborney said Swann is also opposed to Act 72 legislation and agreed with the other candidates that the “system needs overall reform.”

Additionally, Zaborney said had Swann been in office when the legislative pay raise was approved, the bill would not have made it past Swann’s desk.

“He would never have signed it and supports repealing it if he is elected,” Zaborney said.