Josh Shapiro pitches economic plan during visit to Pittsburgh’s robotics row

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Josh Shapiro pitched his economic plan during a Pittsburgh campaign stop Tuesday and said one of his goals as governor would be to ensure that the region becomes the world leader in the robotics industry.

“I am here today to plant a flag and say we will make Western Pennsylvania the robotics capital of the world,” Shapiro said at the Pittsburgh Robotics Network in Lawrenceville.

At the event, held in a business corridor stretching from the Strip District to Lawrenceville that organizers called “robotics row,” Shapiro said his platform would foster innovation, cut red tape to attract new businesses and lower Pennsylvania’s corporate tax rate. Shapiro said that is necessary to ensure Pennsylvania doesn’t lose jobs to competing states.

Shapiro said his plan would use connections made by research universities such as the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University to attract new businesses and spur innovation in fields like robotics and manufacturing.

He said he would help workers tap into robotics and advanced manufacturing jobs by increasing state investment in vocational training and apprenticeships. Shapiro said workers don’t need four-year college degrees for many jobs in those fields, and he added that he would sign an executive order to end the four-year degree requirement for many jobs in state government.

“We have the hardest workers around. Never bet against the Western Pennsylvania worker,” said Shapiro, who currently serves as the state’s Attorney General.

Shapiro said if elected he would create an office of economic growth and workforce development that would become a “one-stop shop” for businesses wanting to grow and apply for necessary permits. He said businesses currently have to work with too many departments.

He supports decreasing the time it takes for the government to issue business-related permits, and said his office would ensure they are provided in a timely fashion and refund fees if permits aren’t closed in a certain period of time.

Shapiro also said supporting the state’s energy economy is part of his plan, and threw his backing behind the region’s natural-gas industry and the goal to bring a hydrogen hub to Southwestern Pennsylvania.

Pittsburgh’s elected officials and business leaders have pitched the region as an ideal candidate as a hub for blue hydrogen, or hydrogen that is produced from natural gas which can be used as an energy source in manufacturing and industrial facilities. The federal government is looking at funding four hydrogen hubs across the country.

Shapiro also said his economic plan includes environmental goals, such as ensuring that 30% of energy generated in the state is renewable by 2030 and the state is net-zero in emissions by 2050.

For all of this to happen, Shapiro said the state’s corporate tax rate should be lowered to foster a better business environment.

The Pennsylvania legislature with support from Gov. Tom Wolf recently lowered the state’s corporate tax rate, which will decrease to 5% by 2030. Shapiro applauded that move but said it wasn’t aggressive enough. He wants to cut the state’s corporate tax rate to 4% by 2025, which he said would be among the lowest in the country.

Shapiro said he would work with the business community to ensure that any windfall from lowering the corporate tax rate would go back to workers or investing in the companies.

Some of these goals, like lowering the corporate tax rate and cutting red tape, align with Republican priorities and are approaches that GOP nominee Doug Mastriano supports according to his campaign website.

But Shapiro said his plan has details that Mastriano lacks. He said he would work in a bipartisan manner if elected to increase business activity and bring cooperation to state government. Shapiro said Mastriano would bring “chaos,” citing Mastriano’s role at the Jan. 6 insurrection and his support for banning abortion after six weeks of pregnancy.

Shapiro said the business community sees Mastriano as a threat, noting how Duolingo CEO Luis von Ahn said he would look at other states to expand in if abortion was made illegal in Pennsylvania. Duolingo is a Pittsburgh-based tech company.

“This guy is really dangerous, and really extreme,” Shapiro said of Mastriano. “He was storming the Capitol. If he is given the chance to lead the state, it would hurt the economy.”

The Mastriano campaign did not immediately return a request for comment.

Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey also spoke at the event, and he echoed Shapiro’s sentiments that Pittsburgh can become the world leader in robotics. He said that goal is easier with a dedicated partner in the governor’s mansion like Shapiro.

“When we understand that and we have a partner in Harrisburg, we can do things that we didn’t think were possible,” Gainey said.