Truitt Says Process in Harrisburg Needs to be Fixed

Dan Truitt is an electrical engineer by trade.  He analyzes processes, and when he first got to Harrisburg, he figured the process was broken.

“I got there, and I met legislators,” Truitt said.  “I thought that most of the legislators seemed like decent people, but we kept getting such lousy legislation.  I figure it had to be the process.”

Truitt sees himself as a kind of outsider.  He didn’t even consider running for office until someone from the Republican Party called and asked him if he would do it.

“I got an e-mail out of the blue,” Truitt said.  “Somebody said that if the Republicans wanted to win they needed a small business owner from East Goshen.  They thought that somebody could be me.”

Truitt added, “If I hadn’t received that e-mail I never would’ve run.  I make a lot less money working as a state rep.  I see it more as a community service.”

Truitt believes that mind-set helps him in Harrisburg.

“I think a lot of people up there are influenced by things they shouldn’t be,” Truitt said.  “When I first got there everyone told me my main job was just to get re-elected.”

Truitt added, “Constantly worrying about getting re-elected distorts how you vote.  It always weighs on you.  But the way I see it, I’m only going to be in Harrisburg a finite time, and if I lose someday I’ll just go back to the private sector, albeit sooner than expected.”

Truitt sees the private sector as the main issue in this election.  He acknowledges that Chester County has the second lowest unemployment rate in the state, but he also says that the rate is still too high for Chester County.

“The main thing we need to do is get rid of all the roadblocks,” Truitt said.  “For a lot of business owners the government doesn’t help, it only gets in the way.”

Truitt said that a prime example of the government getting out of the way is when the Marcellus Shale Bill passed in Harrisburg.

“The usage fee we passed was something of a compromise,” Truitt said.  “We had reps in this part of the state who wanted the rate to be higher, but people in the western and northern parts of the state were afraid we were going to kill the goose that laid the golden egg.”

The usage fee passed by Harrisburg charges a tax on drilling between one and two percent well below what some states charge.  West Virginia and Texas, for example, have drilling taxes between six and eight percent.

“I voted for it,” Truitt said.  “I thought a half a loaf of bread is better than no loaves of bread.”

Truitt also said that before the usage fee had passed there were between 110-115 rigs drilling for natural gas in the state.  He says that number has dropped to 68.

‘A lot of them went west,” Truitt said.  “It was more profitable for them to drill for oil in Montana than it was to stay here.”

Truitt added, “I think the shale chapter is done in this state.  We’re not going to re-open the book and raise taxes.”