On Monday's episode of The PCN Capitol Preview, Sen. Tracy Pennycuick and Rep. Joe Ciresi discuss Artificial Intelligence Regulation.
00:00 - The following program is sponsored in part by
00:03 - customer's bank.
00:15 - Welcome to the pcn capital preview i'm Francine shirts
00:18 - are today we'll discuss AI regulations in Pennsylvania
00:21 - but first we're joined by Stephen caruso a capitol reporter with spotlight pa
00:25 - the state budgets do tomorrow June thirtieth he recently wrote that the state's rainy
00:29 - day fund is likely to be considered as a last resort sort of reserve funding
00:34 - for those that are unfamiliar what is the rainy day fund.
00:37 - The rainy day fund is basically the state's savings account in the same way you know
00:41 - yours and one might have a checking account a savings account
00:44 - and this is money that's been squirreled away pretty
00:46 - painstakingly over the last four or five years
00:49 - most of it coming because the state has better
00:52 - revenues than expected during coven
00:54 - plus a lot of federal funds coming in to
00:56 - backstop state dollars so so
00:58 - cause he was able to save a waste of money but we never really address the underlying
01:02 - financial issues of the commonwealth which is why we are here now
01:06 - those.
01:07 - General.
01:09 - Surplus funds
01:10 - were at about fourteen fifteen billion
01:13 - in about twenty twenty two and they've just been
01:15 - due the deficit spending over the last few years
01:17 - have been going down and down and down we're now doing
01:19 - about half of that all in the rainy day fund
01:22 - i'm sitting there and you know so far
01:24 - senate Republicans have made clear preserving as much as possible as a top priority
01:29 - but then we go down the list of things that
01:30 - you know potentially folks want to spend money on and
01:33 - it's going to become tricky pretty quickly and that's what
01:35 - I've been close during hawks are going to focus on a lot
01:37 - what would need to happen for lawmakers to pass
01:39 - a budget without touching the rainy day fund.
01:42 - They'd have to either make some pretty deep cuts or bring in a lot of
01:48 - new revenue.
01:49 - One option the
01:50 - regulation and taxation of skill games is one thing that
01:55 - is
01:56 - constantly on the table
01:57 - a court ruling
01:59 - earlier this month where he brought that to the forefront
02:02 - the state supreme court
02:03 - actually said
02:05 - that these are
02:05 - and back slot machines
02:07 - they are elite go when in taverns and
02:10 - bars and corner stores
02:11 - in social clubs
02:13 - so
02:13 - creating a regulatory regime with a tax rate
02:15 - could bring in i mean by some projections
02:18 - one two billion dollars a year
02:20 - that's a sizable amount of money
02:22 - but Matt nettle the head of the state's ivo a independent fiscal
02:26 - watchdog so to speak
02:27 - upset
02:28 - i would only get to about twenty percent of the structural deficit
02:31 - we've seen some other interesting options get
02:32 - around the table getting rid of the state's us
02:35 - sales tax exemption for data center
02:37 - projects also potentially taxing digital ads and the companies provide them
02:42 - you know i think
02:43 - in general though like
02:44 - that you
02:45 - will only there's not a lot of political
02:47 - will to do tax row Jesus we also see tax cuts
02:50 - for the general assembly so i'd say the fiscal picture
02:52 - is still kind of quality and known only to a handful people in closed door talks
02:56 - as we're considering potential revenues the governor had also proposed for several
02:59 - years in a row now legalizing recreational marijuana what's the likelihood
03:02 - likelihood of that passing.
03:04 - Well i think i didn't mention it because it seems
03:07 - quite low and a Canada this control board independent
03:10 - senate failed a few weeks ago when democrats voted against it they said because they
03:13 - thought it didn't go far enough in protecting folks who have been charged with
03:17 - marijuana.
03:19 - In marijuana court cases you know for for possession for district distribution
03:23 - also wanting to see full legalization but you know we just have not seen
03:28 - the votes in the state senate to do that
03:30 - Republicans have some
03:31 - pretty deep divides over doing that some Republicans voted no on that bill too
03:35 - so again we kind of go back to the political questions
03:37 - like is it
03:38 - a good policy
03:40 - or
03:40 - are people supportive of it and so far always in the upper chamber in the states on
03:44 - that answer
03:45 - so far has been.
03:47 - Maybe question Mark and they
03:49 - have a
03:49 - look at the boats.
03:50 - He had written that there are also budget maneuvers that lawmakers have used to make
03:53 - it look like they are balancing the budget without actually addressing our fiscal
03:57 - problems can you explain what some of those tactics are.
03:59 - Yeah some of it can be one time revenue i mean
04:02 - in some ways the federal government handing out
04:04 - additional money during cobit
04:06 - i think is probably a lot of folks value is now necessary
04:09 - as that was your rising healthcare costs and and
04:12 - all of the the trickle down effects of a pandemic
04:15 - and that was one time dollars so
04:17 - you'd also say like the expansion of gambling
04:20 - but we also get the more interesting ones a you know there was the
04:25 - lease
04:26 - of the stakes of
04:28 - farm show complex
04:29 - governor wolf.
04:30 - You could also just move money around the
04:33 - government can kind of just you know push expenses forward backwards on its books
04:37 - to try and just make numbers look better for one vote in time
04:42 - and you know then try to deal with it from supplemental it's
04:45 - like the idea of appropriating extra money for expenses that weren't.
04:48 - Foreseen mean.
04:50 - That's also been a common tactic the
04:52 - nonpartisan Walker lions have said that like
04:55 - Pennsylvania is among the worst
04:57 - at doing these one time
04:59 - of
04:59 - endeavors to try and make the books
05:01 - balance when they are in fact not
05:04 - and you
05:05 - know it's a it's a deep trigger books and a dream
05:08 - a deep
05:08 - book of tricks that i assume could potentially
05:11 - be brought to play this year if needed.
05:13 - He noted that
05:14 - lawmakers are
05:15 - considering tax cuts such as
05:17 - eliminating the tax on utility companies how
05:18 - would that affect the state's bottom line.
05:21 - I mean that would potentially be a one point five billion dollar loss to the state
05:24 - every year i think the you know i
05:25 - haven't seen a full five six year projection of that but.
05:29 - That's what it looks like
05:29 - definitely
05:30 - we're talking two billion dollars in annual revenue.
05:33 - You know so it's one of those things that i think
05:36 - seems
05:37 - politically popular because utility bills are soaring and economists
05:40 - economists are split but
05:42 - some of them do say that gross receipts tax which is what this is
05:45 - which isn't on
05:46 - isn't on profit but revenue all the revenue is really easy to pay pass on to
05:50 - customers so you know i think the thought is we'd get rid of this tax
05:54 - consumers will see less of a price
05:56 - or see
05:56 - a lower price on their bills but
05:58 - you know that also has cost and has a revenue and then
06:01 - if you have to find one point six billion dollars in cuts
06:04 - we're talking about
06:05 - you know this is concerned environmental program education.
06:08 - Human services snap at again were already down
06:11 - the pike are going to be some federal cuts coming
06:13 - so the fiscal picture just continues to get worse
06:16 - and worse if you do go forward with that tax cut.
06:20 - The house passed their version of the budget a little earlier this spring have you
06:23 - gotten any insight into how negotiations are going or any insight into whether the
06:26 - senate is getting closer to have a budget build up into the floor.
06:30 - I haven't gotten too much insight i think over all their
06:34 - things are
06:35 - quiet which can be a good sign you know folks are not
06:37 - yapping too much to members of the press or the
06:40 - the
06:40 - the the sixth estate of Harrisburg's lobby corps so
06:44 - that could mean folks are taking the association seriously
06:47 - you know i i should say that looks like just off of the logistics we pray gonna have
06:50 - a budget pass until July first the senate
06:52 - needs to vote on that house
06:54 - appropriations bill and by the constitution probation bills
06:56 - just like in the federal government have started house
06:58 - so you know
07:00 - just it's looking like it will probably be a late
07:03 - budget i would also just say at this point that's
07:05 - to be coming standing operating practices most i think every budget since twenty
07:08 - twenty two has been late by at least
07:10 - a week or two
07:11 - and
07:12 - and then after that you know in that
07:15 - you you've gotta go like fifteen days that i think it mostly doesn't impact anyone if
07:18 - you start getting into August folks are going to feel pain and of course they felt a
07:21 - lot of pain last year that budget was one hundred and twenty days late.
07:24 - Stephen curso capital reported the spotlight
07:27 - thank you for joining us
07:28 - thanks for having me
07:29 - more of the PC and capital preview after this short break.
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08:27 - PC in
08:28 - Pennsylvania politics and policy.
08:34 - Welcome back our guest today our representative Joseph received the majority chair of
08:38 - the house communications and technology committee
08:41 - and senator Tracy pennycook majority chair of the
08:44 - senate communications and technology committee
08:46 - in recent weeks the general assembly has moved several bills and at both the
08:50 - development of data centers and reg violating artificial intelligence
08:53 - center pennycook will start with you
08:55 - what do you think from your constituents regarding establishes
08:57 - who it is a hot topic in my district.
09:01 - Right now data centers are our
09:03 - forefront of everyone's.
09:05 - Conversations and.
09:07 - Because came up very quickly.
09:11 - Without a lot of info nation.
09:14 - And then there was a lot of
09:15 - misinformation
09:17 - so people are trying to
09:18 - find what's true what's not true
09:21 - figure out what's good for their
09:23 - local community and what's not good for the local community in some.
09:27 - Denison is not.
09:28 - For every corner
09:29 - it's not for every undeveloped land or underdeveloped land
09:33 - it's gotta be very thoughtful and where it goes and
09:35 - that's why i'm a huge advocate for local control.
09:39 - Represents seriously what are you hearing from
09:40 - your constituents absolutely the same thing
09:42 - i mean.
09:43 - It's been unbelievable what we're hearing from people
09:46 - and then seeing them the wolf will get all these
09:48 - different projects all these different land
09:50 - and I've said all along it's local control
09:53 - our stand with the communities
09:55 - we know some people in the mid part of the state want them to come there
09:58 - then bring them there
09:59 - if our communities don't want them then stop them
10:02 - don't bring them to our communities at all our local boards
10:04 - should have the right to say where when and how and.
10:07 - In one of the hearings recently and i couldn't believe
10:10 - how ninety percent of the questions weren't answered
10:13 - like you need to answer these questions
10:15 - that's why there's such angst in the community because you're not answering
10:18 - what people are asking
10:20 - and it's not fair to our local communities where they do that.
10:23 - Last summer there was a summit sponsored by
10:26 - us sen Dave mccormick wow where
10:28 - they touted billions of dollars of AI investments
10:30 - in Pennsylvania have you seen a changing perspective
10:33 - on the development of this industry in the past year and if so why.
10:38 - Well i think that we've seen more awareness to AI i think we've seen our public
10:43 - understanding more about AI and it was more putting the spotlight
10:47 - and we're Pennsylvania sits and look at investment in AI
10:51 - is a whole different ballgame than investment in the data centers
10:55 - and AI is being used everywhere i'm sure even on the
10:57 - program what we're doing right now using some sort of AI
11:01 - but that is not the same thing as build data centres all over the commonwealth
11:04 - there's new businesses that are coming out of the AI movement
11:08 - that are great for our economy
11:10 - and we're seeing other services come out of it but.
11:14 - We need to understand where these two things are and i think
11:16 - the spotlight on this
11:18 - has been great because it's a national issue it's really a world issue it's not just
11:22 - here in the united states or in Pennsylvania
11:24 - but
11:25 - i think we've seen more people involved in understanding
11:27 - AI from that where that conference came from.
11:30 - I think he also have to look at what AI is doing that's really positive so i have
11:35 - murky night district so they are using AI
11:38 - in there clinical trials
11:39 - so they are bringing
11:41 - life saving drugs to market.
11:43 - Three and four and five years sooner.
11:46 - You're having your mammogram.
11:48 - Checked by AI they're detecting breast cancer five years earlier.
11:52 - That's lifesaving
11:53 - that is your maybe stage one as opposed to stage four
11:58 - so that's really really important
12:00 - so i see AI investment.
12:02 - Very differently than the data centers because data centers.
12:06 - We we all know we need them
12:08 - we want a online bank where we're all scrolling on our phones and we put our
12:12 - information in the cloud but we have to be very very.
12:17 - Methodical on where we put them they don't belong everywhere
12:21 - and if
12:21 - like just said if a community doesn't want them
12:23 - don't put them there
12:25 - i have plenty of bound sites in my district
12:27 - put them in a bound site
12:28 - let's revitalize some of those
12:31 - bad
12:32 - previous you know
12:33 - industry
12:35 - leftovers
12:36 - and put them there
12:37 - but it has to be the local control
12:39 - of a package of bills that i just
12:41 - introduced and it'll
12:43 - keep local control local but one thing that you know
12:46 - Joe mentioned that the questions aren't being answered.
12:50 - Indie aes
12:51 - why is there in India there should be no
12:53 - is
12:54 - i have a bill that says no you cannot have an
12:56 - a place
12:57 - people need that transparency
13:00 - our constituents
13:01 - deserve and demand that transparency and and
13:04 - there should be no India there's no reason for an nd that bills running today
13:08 - my auntie April no good good.
13:12 - Or
13:12 - yup.
13:13 - It's critical
13:14 - when you hear from local governments riffing constituents
13:16 - on what kind of specific concerns are they citing
13:19 - well.
13:21 - First of all.
13:22 - We hear from local governments the education that they're getting on this
13:25 - there is none
13:27 - so we elect people
13:28 - to
13:30 - to do it they're supposed to do for our communities
13:32 - we throw them into the fire and tell them okay well you decide what to do with this
13:35 - right now i mean when i talked to my local officials are like
13:38 - we got elected and we've got all this stuff and
13:40 - there's not enough time to bring them up to speed on the the topics
13:44 - they're concerned about noise.
13:46 - Pollution
13:47 - air pollution from the hundreds of generate hers
13:51 - the water consumption we've had a lot of Wells go dry
13:54 - will this continue to to hurt
13:56 - the well water where the Wells go dry when i see water
13:58 - and of course what everybody's talking about is our electric bills
14:02 - they're concerned at how high these electric bills will go
14:04 - and those are all concerns that we all should have
14:07 - and there are questions that
14:08 - still can't be answered because when you ask these questions runs in a public hearing
14:12 - to these developers
14:13 - they differ they differ they differ.
14:16 - So there's a lot of research is still needs to be done on it
14:19 - there are some good things happening though the pa chamber has offered
14:23 - local communities local municipal
14:26 - leaders
14:26 - to come and have a
14:28 - data center discussion
14:30 - and go on the field trip
14:31 - which i think is critical
14:32 - you gotta go and look and see
14:34 - it's not nearly as sexy as i thought it would be it's kind of boring
14:38 - but
14:38 - valid concerns about water consumption
14:41 - energy
14:42 - let's look at
14:43 - a tariff
14:44 - for data centers
14:45 - let them pay for the infrastructure that we need here in Pennsylvania
14:50 - it should never go to the residents
14:52 - we should never
14:53 - expect the local
14:55 - mom and pop
14:56 - business
14:57 - to pay for infrastructure builds
14:59 - that the data center needs absolutely not
15:02 - you both described the issue of transparency and i
15:04 - are both sponsoring transparency legislation so i
15:06 - give you both an opportunity to talk a little bit
15:07 - about what you're sponsoring what those spells were do
15:09 - so there's i have one whole package and one of them obviously isn't in da bill
15:14 - but also
15:15 - in order for a data center to be approved you'd have to have two publicly
15:19 - announced public hearings.
15:22 - Let the residents come ask questions hear what's going on
15:26 - don't do it in the dead of night behind closed
15:28 - doors where no one knows what's going on
15:30 - i think that's really important i'm a huge advocate for bring your own energy
15:34 - you want a data center you bring your own energy
15:36 - you cannot rely on the grid
15:38 - that's for the local consumer the small business
15:42 - that's for you know the residents that's that's not.
15:45 - For data centers
15:47 - and the
15:48 - one of the most important things i think is no foreign ownership
15:51 - we have to maintain
15:53 - our national security and we've got to look at
15:56 - making sure our data
15:57 - is held
15:58 - in our country by Americans.
16:01 - Well and i think that goes back to the hole and the ideal too is that
16:04 - you have an md a sign no one knows who's building it who owns it
16:08 - and again it doesn't mean that
16:10 - you shouldn't build that you should know it but why can't you know who's coming
16:13 - to your house or into your community
16:15 - i also have another bill working on his referendum
16:18 - let it go to a referendum a school district has the rights go to referendum
16:22 - to build a new building
16:24 - to save the public do we want this right let the public say yea or nay
16:28 - if they say no it's a no go
16:30 - so
16:30 - on major projects
16:31 - let the public decide that we hear a lot about
16:34 - where the money is going to come into the tax base
16:36 - when your community understands that they can weigh their own options
16:39 - and they should have the right to weigh their options
16:41 - and i think it's important as we move through this
16:44 - to look at every option to give that control back to the local community.
16:49 - Center or a mom ago you talked a little bit about being in favor of
16:52 - having these data centers provide their own energy and that's happened in some
16:55 - circumstances says Microsoft purchasing
16:58 - the three mile island site yes and with
17:01 - the development of data centers have an impact on consumer energy either
17:04 - access or price on or is that going to be perhaps a regional.
17:09 - Comparison so
17:10 - one of my proposed bills is to tariff
17:13 - the data centers so that they would pay a higher rate
17:16 - so there would be no impact
17:18 - additionally
17:19 - if there is a situation where there is a a brown out or there's an energy.
17:24 - Decline
17:26 - they come offline
17:27 - residents do not
17:28 - so we protect the residents access to energy.
17:32 - The other thing we talked about was water
17:34 - and you know we're talking about these huge data centres
17:37 - but like everything else with computers we started off
17:40 - in the basement of
17:40 - college universities
17:42 - and then there now in our pocket
17:45 - so as this technology advances and it's advancing very rapidly
17:48 - the the size and scope is going to.
17:51 - Get smaller.
17:53 - The energy is going to get smaller
17:55 - and the the water
17:57 - the demand is going to get smaller and i think we need to recognize that and maybe
18:01 - Daisy chain
18:02 - buildings together rather than you know multiple million square foot buildings
18:07 - maybe we do smaller
18:09 - so that they can be broken off in in re adapted as the needs change
18:14 - but i
18:15 - am a firm believer with Joe it has to be local control
18:18 - and i feel like
18:19 - that
18:20 - people kind of forgot about the local control it's like no no we are a commonwealth
18:24 - and we need local control let the local people decide what's good for their community
18:29 - i have people in berks county that love the idea of a data center
18:33 - we have limerick they do not
18:34 - then don't put it in limerick put it somewhere else
18:37 - and that's what is so critical.
18:40 - Representative do you foresee any long term environmental consequences as a result of
18:44 - data center development well that's the biggest thing that everyone's concern with
18:47 - all of us should be concerned with that you know
18:49 - the big parts are when you look at this
18:51 - like when i heard the propose as a limerick three hundred and six generators
18:55 - those aren't little generators that you pulled with cord these are massive
18:59 - the size some of them the size of a semi.
19:02 - That are running on diesel
19:04 - that's a massive amount of fuel on site
19:07 - god forbid there's an accident what happens to our streams where it's running into
19:10 - and these are answers that need to happen
19:12 - and then there are other studies about warming
19:14 - that they raise the temperature in certain areas
19:17 - so these are questions that still can't be answered that need to be answered
19:20 - in order to be able to go into this the right way and environmentalist
19:23 - some of them are setting up the alarm saying look there's other ways to look at this
19:26 - we had a
19:28 - group in our office i said to them
19:29 - can we build them underground.
19:31 - The guy looked at me because what do you mean i said well we all know that geothermal
19:34 - the water temperature or the underground is fifty eight degrees
19:38 - so can they automatically be cooled without all the
19:40 - use of water so well then we have to get the heat off
19:42 - we've seen i guess it's in another country where they're
19:45 - pumping the heat into hospitals and genitals
19:47 - so there's other ways to look at this
19:49 - and if we take the time to look at it i think we'd be
19:52 - about a better place than where we are all right now
19:54 - there was a rally at the capitol roughly about a week ago calling for a moratorium on
19:58 - data center development do either of you
20:00 - support a moratorium and if so for what period
20:03 - so i don't
20:04 - support a moratorium because i don't want to
20:05 - make decisions for communities that want them.
20:09 - I i don't think that's the right way to go
20:12 - i think we will find ourselves
20:14 - behind the power curve
20:16 - so to speak
20:18 - and
20:18 - because there are people that do want them
20:21 - and i think it has to be again up to local control
20:24 - when you put the moratorium in place and you say absolutely nothing here.
20:29 - I think you're you're
20:30 - making a short sighted decision
20:32 - and
20:33 - like Joe i think we have to have all the information
20:36 - and
20:37 - once you have all that information i think
20:39 - the locals have to make the best decision but
20:41 - i don't agree with a moratorium i really don't
20:44 - we just pass out of the house a moratorium bill
20:46 - represented frills bill that gives the local control to
20:50 - a moratorium on the project gives i'm six months
20:52 - and.
20:53 - Six months
20:54 - one hundred sixty six months here
20:55 - six months to do that and they can consecutively do it but again it's local
20:59 - control
21:00 - so if they want to do it.
21:02 - Pass that bill out of your you know
21:04 - committee or whatever it is a meetings
21:06 - and now you put the moratorium on i think again
21:08 - we're handing control back back to the local
21:11 - news yeah because in the mid part of the state
21:13 - where some of our members on the floor say to me
21:15 - we want to build them here well then
21:17 - build on that but in this part they don't want it.
21:19 - So that moratorium works in our community
21:22 - what advice would you give to either a local government entity or perhaps a private
21:25 - resident who has concerns about the potential for a
21:28 - data center being established in their neighborhood
21:30 - involved understand
21:32 - call question
21:33 - get off Facebook
21:34 - yeah well don't get your information from Facebook
21:37 - i mean i i hate to say that but that
21:39 - that
21:40 - mentality do some real research
21:43 - reach out to the pa chamber and ask questions go to
21:47 - public meetings but don't just look at social media
21:50 - i think social media
21:52 - gets
21:52 - almost the mob mentality
21:54 - and
21:55 - i
21:56 - read unfortunately all these articles about AI
21:58 - and data centers and I've learned so much more
22:01 - that other countries are doing that we could be doing right
22:04 - you know the hydrogen
22:06 - cooled chip
22:07 - no water involved
22:08 - much safer
22:10 - okay well why aren't we using that
22:12 - technology
22:12 - closed loop cooling systems it uses less water than a golf course.
22:17 - Okay well let's let's look at that
22:20 - there's a lot of information out there.
22:23 - Do your research continue to do your research be open to new technologies and.
22:29 - There's some crazy stuff being prep post and you know the
22:33 - micro data center on the side of your house
22:36 - which i thought was great
22:37 - what a great concept where you get paid
22:40 - to have one to have one
22:42 - or the one that tried out in the ocean
22:44 - yeah
22:44 - the
22:45 - the floating the floating
22:47 - in space they're talking about putting them in space
22:49 - so i think you just have to be
22:51 - a little bit more.
22:53 - Due diligence almost like a research paper do your
22:55 - due diligence do you do your research find out
22:58 - talk to the
23:00 - opposite side.
23:02 - Well that's just it i think that
23:03 - there needs to be conversations
23:05 - when we close off one end or the other
23:08 - we don't find the right solution
23:10 - and we need to have people involved in
23:12 - the conversation of where we go with this how do we go with it
23:15 - you know they're coming no matter what
23:17 - whether coming to our communities or not that's a whole other
23:19 - argument that we put down
23:21 - again local control lol
23:22 - but
23:23 - we should understand where we're going with it you know
23:26 - we look back to the seventies when nuclear power plants started to rebuilt
23:29 - and we saw them all over the country where people protested and
23:33 - and for rightly so i understood why
23:35 - but also we need to become more educated on it and that's where
23:38 - i think the industry has failed
23:40 - oh absolutely Tracy began with this
23:42 - all of a sudden they were popping up everywhere
23:44 - you know the industry needs to educate also
23:47 - they need to hear the people and understand
23:49 - their concerns and then come back with answers
23:52 - but we need a a real education process on these
23:56 - and that's what we're not saying.
23:58 - Governor chaparral i proposed a plan concrete standards what does his program involve
24:03 - well grid standards representative Webster just passed.
24:07 - The bill out of the house which is on the way the senate
24:10 - to talk about all of what we're trying to do all the safety size
24:13 - all of the
24:14 - not increasing your electric bill
24:16 - knowing how much water is going to be used
24:18 - having the public input in it
24:20 - and where it goes now i mean it's in goshen of course re the house and the senate
24:24 - and how the senate changes it or approves it
24:27 - we'll see what happens with it but
24:29 - the governor wants to make sure
24:30 - that we put the safety measures in place
24:32 - to
24:33 - the community a safe
24:34 - when they do put these centers and if they do put them in
24:37 - that there are standards that are held they're held to a higher degree
24:40 - and that our public isn't paying
24:42 - out the nose for water
24:43 - and for electric
24:44 - that they know that they can only do so much and they have to report back
24:48 - on what they're using
24:49 - and they have to come within those parameters
24:51 - would grid enforcement be mandatory
24:53 - but i think it would be a marriage where once a bill passes in both chambers.
24:57 - Depending on where it will go
24:59 - i can't speak for the senate
25:01 - seat racing.
25:05 - I
25:05 - just have to tell you i just think it's more
25:07 - bureaucracy i really do i don't see any value added.
25:13 - There's a lot of talk about we're going to fast track
25:16 - i had a bill that i cosponsored with Greg rothman
25:19 - and after
25:20 - hearing from constituents
25:22 - that bill will never see the light of day i don't want to see data centers fast-tracked
25:26 - i want to see them go through the gp process
25:29 - what is your environmental impact
25:31 - you know i don't want to see animals
25:33 - that are gonna be impacted
25:35 - by a data center no i want all that information
25:38 - but i don't think the government
25:40 - the state government needs to get involved and
25:43 - put these
25:44 - i think it's local community and i just see that as just one more
25:47 - bureaucratic fast fast track
25:50 - and
25:50 - where you know.
25:52 - Part of his grid program was to.
25:55 - Go to renewable energy for a data center well we know that's not going to happen
26:00 - you're not going to be able to get
26:01 - solar and wind to the
26:03 - thirty five percent that the governor wants so
26:05 - i think it's you know in theory it's a it's a great idea but i think good
26:09 - impracticality getting it there
26:11 - i just think it's more bureaucracy a
26:14 - part of the issue that we've had on this is that again in the industry itself
26:18 - they haven't come up with
26:19 - standards so the governor is like okay well if you're not going to we're going now
26:23 - we did see some technology out of Arizona where they are using renewable
26:28 - because the sun is so prevalent
26:30 - and their their generators are not run on diesel they are run on so solar
26:34 - and there is they just passed a bill in Connecticut
26:38 - to do something similar to this
26:40 - so there is we could burn some of this technology in
26:43 - but again
26:44 - the industry itself just wants to build it
26:47 - build it will put her there and it's like no
26:48 - no that's why the government needs to step in
26:50 - and where the government maybe shouldn't be stepping in
26:53 - there is no choice
26:54 - because the industry itself isn't isn't doing it on it's own.
26:58 - The senate just passed
26:59 - or amended a bill last week we're sending data centers
27:01 - tax breaks gas equipment what
27:03 - effect would that have in the states bottom line.
27:06 - Save says about one hundred and twenty five million a year
27:09 - and and honestly these data centers supposedly are these huge revenue generators that
27:13 - why do they need a tax break by you know who needs a tax break
27:16 - the average pennsylvanian
27:18 - affordability is number one issue
27:20 - and we've got to worry about are Pennsylvania residents
27:24 - and not a multi billion dollar cut money getting a tax break to come to Pennsylvania.
27:29 - The senate appropriations committee also amended
27:31 - provisions similarly considered in the house
27:33 - that would eliminate the gross receipts tax on electricity sales and require utility
27:37 - companies to pass savings on to consumers
27:39 - how do you enforce this cost savings.
27:42 - Or if you gotta go back and look at
27:44 - that that would be PC would have to would absolutely have to enforce that but
27:48 - you know i
27:49 - i love that bill.
27:51 - We we should be doing we
27:53 - as you said earlier we should be thinking out of the box
27:56 - we've got to do
27:57 - everything we can to make sure that Pennsylvania
28:00 - just keep more money in their pocket
28:02 - and if
28:03 - eliminated the gross receipts tax on electricity
28:06 - so be it
28:07 - we'll figure it out
28:08 - we have to start thinking out of the box because we cannot raise taxes
28:12 - on our citizens it's just wrong.
28:16 - We're going to take a
28:17 - very short break we'll come back to our discussion i also wanna talk a little bit
28:19 - about regulation of artificial intelligence in just a moment but first let's give our
28:22 - guests a break and we'll look at what patriots cameras will be covering this week.
28:26 - The state budget is due tomorrow and that'll
28:28 - be the topic on the next pcn capital preview
28:31 - former speaker of the house built a waste and ceo of quantum communicate oceans at
28:35 - Charlie and Sharon join us tomorrow morning live at nine o'clock.
28:39 - On history and culture side of programming the
28:41 - america two fifty celebration continues on pcn
28:45 - with a history of political cartoons
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28:53 - influence the action with penn state meteorologist John nice
28:57 - and licensed battlefield guide Jeff Harding that's Tuesday at nine pm.
29:02 - Join gettysburg rangers and battlefield visitors as they
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29:48 - i want to shift gears a little bit and talk about AI regulations representative
29:52 - Melissa schuster minutes sponsoring a bill
29:54 - that would impose safety features to prevent
29:56 - chatbots from encouraging self-harm what would
29:58 - inspire this spell.
30:00 - Well i think we've seen more and more of these
30:02 - issues come up especially with our children
30:05 - where they go on to AI and ask for advice
30:08 - we see an AI act as a psychologist or psychiatrist which is what we want to prevent
30:13 - but we've all heard those horror stories.
30:15 - The.
30:16 - Florida where a i
30:18 - told him basically you should take his own life and he did
30:22 - and then i was at a seminar where a woman
30:24 - shared
30:25 - the story of her daughter
30:27 - who eh i didn't tell her to take her own life but reinforce the way she was feeling
30:31 - so she ended up taking her own life so
30:33 - what this bill is trying to do is prevent AI from doing that
30:37 - i also think that part of this is
30:40 - to be reminded that you're speaking to AI
30:42 - is AI speaking like all of us right here right now
30:45 - you start to talk to your phone or something
30:47 - after a while you forget
30:49 - even you know it played some you begin to forget it and when you do this constantly
30:52 - you really forget that you're speaking to a computer
30:55 - not a human being
30:57 - so this bill is trying to prevent that from happening
30:59 - to
31:00 - have people know and have the parameters in place to guard
31:03 - against that type of
31:05 - situation
31:06 - how do you police any sort of AI regulation if the if the AI chat by entity
31:11 - exists outside of Pennsylvania whether it's in another state or another country.
31:16 - That's where you go after big tech and you forced them to come to the table and
31:20 - recognize that these chatbots and these algorithms.
31:26 - Are unchecked
31:27 - there there's no
31:28 - protection to
31:30 - prevent
31:31 - crime suicide
31:33 - ideation or harming others
31:36 - and that's why Miller ss bell and my companion bill are so important.
31:40 - Every three hours you are interacting with a computer
31:43 - thirty three per cent of our teenage children
31:46 - are interacting with chatbots
31:48 - every day that's scary
31:50 - and they're looking for emotional connection with a computer so we need to make sure
31:55 - that big tac puts those guard rails up
31:58 - and
31:59 - they're going to have to do it.
32:01 - What do you see movies i forget what the movie was with a guy i dated the
32:04 - computer the computer yes yeah what was that
32:06 - i don't
32:07 - remember but
32:08 - that's really happening
32:09 - like people
32:10 - want to marry there yeah right it's crazy and you're thinking this is a computer you
32:15 - know and the computer supposed to be programme to say certain things like
32:18 - that's what it's doing this isn't a human being.
32:21 - So we need to put as many guard rails in
32:23 - place as we possibly can our attorney general
32:26 - has been great about saying that he will take on these companies yep
32:30 - he'll enforce the law whatever the law comes down to in Pennsylvania.
32:33 - Even if it's not popular on the federal side he's going to go after him.
32:37 - In may i despair administration filed a lawsuit alleging character a i created
32:41 - personas that post as licensed physician and offered medical advice
32:44 - what kind of measures would you like to see a point and a place to
32:47 - protect users.
32:49 - Absolutely.
32:51 - First of all we've we've seen this all over the country
32:55 - because no one's taking them to task
32:57 - so the attorney general filing a lawsuit that's huge.
33:02 - Holding them accountable but we we've got to go one step further.
33:06 - We need to make them financially accountable
33:09 - i have a notify
33:10 - app ban
33:11 - which.
33:12 - For those of us that are over twenty
33:15 - and it takes off using AI takes off the clothes in a picture
33:19 - and there's no valid reason for anyone to have this app.
33:24 - Every time it's downloaded if this bill were to
33:26 - be passed it's one hundred thousand dollar fine.
33:30 - So
33:30 - you're you're putting your money where your mouth is
33:33 - and that attorney general would be able to recoup that money from these companies.
33:38 - It's just
33:39 - we've we've got to say no.
33:41 - You know not every kid needs to be on the Internet not
33:43 - every kid needs to have social media the UK just banned
33:46 - social media for children under sixteen i think it's a great idea
33:49 - it destroys their mental health the algorithms we know
33:53 - hurt their mental health.
33:54 - They need to be
33:55 - interacting with their peers and plane and in whatever and and not on the computer
34:00 - what specific guard rails would you like to see put in place to protect children.
34:06 - Well
34:06 - we we did the
34:08 - child sexual abuse material bill as you know.
34:11 - We've we've
34:12 - have eight defendants
34:14 - which is a great start
34:16 - but it's almost like playing whack-a-mole
34:18 - when you hit one you know the notification app
34:21 - they'll find some way around that we just have to be diligent and key pushing
34:25 - i would love to see parents be a little bit more.
34:30 - Hands on and taking the device away
34:33 - you know i have grandchildren and i'm like no
34:35 - not at my house you're not gonna plan you know that that's the one thing that.
34:40 - Even in my own office we had a little bit back and
34:41 - forth about the phones out in the classrooms anymore
34:45 - and
34:46 - one of the people that work for me was like
34:47 - you can't take the phones away from the kids it's like
34:50 - we're not taking the phones away from the kids just
34:52 - while they're in school they're not going to have phones
34:54 - because children they'll be able to interact with each other my son used to say to me
34:58 - how did you meet up with your friends when you were young
35:00 - i said what do you mean
35:01 - we couldn't text them i said no you would call
35:04 - the mother would ask answer the phone.
35:07 - Say what reading arena you know whatever and
35:08 - you'd go home with the street lights came on.
35:12 - What happens then show a game fifteen minutes
35:14 - show up they weren't common everybody.
35:16 - You know you didn't need to text six hundred and forty three times
35:19 - but the other thing we've all seen and anyone is watching this and all of us here
35:22 - go to a restaurant and look around
35:25 - for people at a table for people on the phone one
35:27 - yeah none of them are talking to each other anymore
35:30 - and i think those are some of the safeguards and
35:32 - like Tracy said there's only so much screentime we should be giving the kids
35:36 - kids need to be kids yet
35:37 - we played outside all summer long.
35:40 - Even when i was one hundred degrees.
35:42 - Instead of inside on video game we did play video games too but
35:45 - the more that we put safeco Tarzan
35:48 - will see a different
35:49 - feel in society and
35:50 - we can only govern so much
35:52 - like
35:53 - a parent needs to take control and
35:55 - sometimes people come to us and say well you guys
35:56 - need to do this and say that's parental control
35:59 - and the parent needs to do that not us.
36:01 - This year's election will include all members of the house half of the senate as well
36:05 - as the governor's race how are the issues
36:06 - regarding in data center development and AI.
36:10 - Affecting the
36:11 - election that that's coming up this year.
36:13 - I think it's a topic of conversation the topic yeah
36:15 - there's and it's it's not party driven either no
36:18 - it's it's very localized which is really interesting.
36:22 - AI is very separate from data centers yeah i mean i think
36:25 - people understand the need and the desire for that the
36:28 - technology to enhance manufacturing to enhance
36:31 - medical
36:32 - and research
36:33 - but then you look at the data centers and it and we're just not there yet and i'm
36:38 - definitely not there yet and i think that people are looking to their government for
36:42 - parameters
36:43 - and an understanding and education we pass the bill
36:46 - my
36:47 - culture and i hi.
36:48 - Jason or two to pass the bill it said p s a's
36:52 - on all of this AI and understanding it they're looking for us to say
36:56 - this is where we should be going loses some of the
36:58 - guidelines at least to give the educational part of it
37:00 - i think that's playing some in the local elections this year
37:04 - with the topic of conversation more than anything
37:07 - how's that they're affecting political campaigns.
37:10 - Yeah
37:11 - we've all put our bills against what
37:13 - i can do yeah well and my deep fake belly up
37:16 - which is now in law
37:17 - and that will you know definitely put a squash on some of the
37:21 - AI stuff but it's definitely in play oh yeah i mean we saw that in new Hampshire when
37:25 - Joe biden's voice was spoofed don't need to come out
37:28 - you know I've already won
37:29 - that can't happen
37:31 - we need our voters to have confidence in the information that they're getting
37:34 - and making sure that it's not AI generated or AI
37:38 - manipulated so
37:39 - yeah we're we're all
37:40 - very very.
37:42 - Big one yeah
37:43 - what qualifies as digital forgery.
37:47 - Anything that is intentionally manipulated to haunt writing
37:51 - and
37:52 - i think it's an
37:54 - adobe
37:55 - has the technology where they show every iteration so
37:59 - yeah
37:59 - they took a picture of us sitting here the three of us
38:02 - then someone puts a hat on each one of our heads
38:04 - there's a little thing.
38:06 - That has to be a little like it's just a
38:08 - little symbol in the corner that you could tip
38:10 - hit
38:10 - and they'll tell you who made the change
38:12 - in weather changed me what the original picture was
38:14 - and that's
38:15 - with trying to see
38:17 - in the industry to push that as a standard that everything.
38:20 - That tech
38:21 - savvy tag
38:22 - almost like
38:23 - the ingredients
38:24 - in a product
38:25 - and this is the angry idiot label.
38:28 - How do you draw a fine line between malicious use of altering an image vs
38:32 - say political satire an entity like the onion would put out.
38:36 - Well the cheap fake bill
38:38 - protects that satire piece in the first amendment
38:41 - i think you have to have a little bit of a thick skin
38:44 - and and just be realistic and say come on.
38:46 - Funny and common sense
38:48 - you know funny is a lie
38:49 - yeah you can't be funny anymore you will you watch old comedians like adult.
38:54 - Stuff that they used to say and get away with
38:56 - there is a line we got gotta laugh when someone does something okay that was
39:00 - done at
39:01 - Jess just at a comedy
39:02 - it might have been politically oriented but still
39:04 - but it's still funny
39:05 - yeah
39:06 - i saying having someone call and say don't need to come out and vote for me cause
39:09 - I've already have yes that's malicious so
39:11 - yeah.
39:12 - In December of last year president trump signed an executive order and
39:16 - basically discouraging states from regulating AI for the
39:18 - next ten years how does that play out with states attempts to
39:22 - legislate and perhaps protect
39:24 - individuals.
39:26 - Hasn't stopped us in one bet we are going to continue
39:28 - to push forward and the attorney general said.
39:31 - Nope
39:32 - we we are absolutely in lock step on that we
39:34 - are moving forward to protect Pennsylvania and
39:37 - if we waited for the federal government i don't even know where we are
39:40 - i mean i just
39:41 - i can't even imagine
39:43 - we we are not we work really well together the two cock mrs
39:47 - we recognize that AI is so critical
39:50 - but it needs to be regulated it needs to be
39:53 - on guard rails put up to protect people
39:56 - from those bad actors that are out there one thing that we're saying is when we speak
39:59 - to colleagues from around the country other
40:01 - legislators oh yeah they all feel the same way
40:04 - that none of us are stopping
40:05 - nope
40:06 - as a man matter of fact we've proposed
40:09 - to the other legislators around the country when we have the conferences of states
40:13 - to say let's take one bill that we all pass in every legislative body
40:17 - yet
40:18 - now becomes law of the land because we've all done it also generates have agreed to
40:22 - this legislation so if the feds aren't going
40:24 - to do it then we'll do it individually estate
40:27 - walk
40:27 - past it and every one of our bodies
40:29 - and we talk about it with others
40:31 - legislators from other states on what we're working
40:33 - on and what they're working on and what makes sense
40:36 - and what we can work on together in fact we're out in Chicago next month
40:39 - talking about it
40:40 - to talk about it and get together with other states
40:42 - so that we can build a coalition and say to the
40:45 - federal government look this is what we're doing
40:47 - we're doing your heavy lifting
40:49 - you guys have got to let us continue and we're going to continue
40:53 - are
40:53 - you aware of any federal efforts to help streamline AI regulation.
40:57 - Really we haven't heard anything from members of
41:00 - congress who want to push it but it's gone nowhere.
41:03 - That you developed an AI act which went into effect roughly
41:06 - about a year ago what lessons can we learn from that.
41:10 - I think they're doing some really smart stuff
41:12 - they really are and
41:14 - the e u
41:15 - is
41:15 - actually a lot further along than we are
41:18 - which is kind of surprising because they seem to be a little bit dysfunctional but i.
41:23 - They've taken an
41:25 - a safety approach is probably the best way to put it
41:27 - they're worried about.
41:30 - Consumer safety and i think that's what we need to focus
41:32 - we are focused on
41:34 - and will continue to focus on protecting our children
41:37 - and our elders from you know being exploited
41:40 - with
41:40 - deep fakes that are you know AI generated you know in advertising i mean it's
41:44 - everybody everybody falls under the protection that we need to make sure that
41:48 - everyone is protected i think that
41:50 - sometimes
41:51 - we need to look
41:52 - like we said way out of the box we should be
41:54 - looking at what they're doing around the world
41:56 - there's there's things that are great that we can bring back to the united states
42:00 - we should be doing these things
42:02 - and we should be using some of the things that they've already put forth
42:05 - into what bills that we pass
42:08 - we often say let's talk to the other countries
42:10 - too it's not only our states but other countries
42:13 - can we learn from them as they learn from us.
42:16 - How do you legislate ethics as AI is being developed so that it is used to benefits
42:20 - that society that's a real that's a real tough one.
42:23 - That is
42:24 - just.
42:25 - You have to look at things and say okay.
42:29 - How is this going to hurt a consumer or how is it
42:31 - going to protect the consumer at the end of the day
42:33 - i mean everyone has different ethics.
42:36 - So it's it's difficult
42:38 - and that's why some of these bills really get debated
42:41 - and we go back and forth for awhile like a bill
42:43 - could sit for a year before we're ready to run it
42:46 - out of committee and then to get it through the floor
42:47 - of the house and then to get it over this on it.
42:50 - Because everyone has different beliefs
42:52 - but you know i think that for the most part we
42:55 - all feel the same way at least our committee
42:57 - we do on how this needs to be looked at ethically
43:01 - and there are some things you
43:02 - know we're not going to do that
43:04 - yeah
43:04 - it's it's very interesting you think that and
43:07 - i think this is probably the least
43:09 - partisan committee yes
43:11 - we all get together and we're like oh we
43:13 - we gotta we gotta fix this real quick and.
43:16 - All four ch years we talk all the time.
43:18 - We really try to work together to get our
43:21 - priorities through both the house and the senate
43:24 - and onto the governor's desk and
43:26 - we
43:26 - are stakeholders are a huge part i mean we are always working with our stakeholders
43:31 - you know
43:31 - getting them to where they can accept what we're
43:33 - doing and even big tech comes in and tells us hey.
43:37 - We don't really like it but
43:38 - you're right
43:39 - okay
43:40 - and let's you know age verification or we can't do it oh please
43:44 - of course you can you can tell
43:45 - we know you can do it you don't want to do it but you're gonna do it
43:48 - so
43:49 - it is a lot of conversations a lot of back and forth a lot of research we do a
43:52 - tremendous amount of research but
43:54 - and i say that our staffs are great
43:57 - there
43:57 - are edis who work for us and our research analysts their maser on top of it
44:02 - and it's coming at them like a firehose technology what we did yesterday is
44:06 - completely different today yet literally it can be day to day
44:09 - where it's changed so much they've gotta be
44:11 - on top of it and it it's a lot to take a quick
44:13 - breather if you're concerned that AI will lead to humans losing aren't ability to
44:17 - perform certain tasks or that our jobs will be outsourced as a result of
44:20 - relying too much.
44:22 - I think it's an enhancement tool i don't
44:24 - i.
44:25 - It's kind of like the electric typewriter
44:27 - and then the computer it just makes your job
44:30 - easier
44:31 - i don't think you will see.
44:34 - Jobs lost you'll see shifts.
44:36 - You know we won't need as many of this we'll need more of that
44:39 - you'll see some retraining but i i think
44:42 - we'll be ok
44:43 - i think that
44:44 - we are a little different on this as you there is going
44:46 - to be job loss but i also think that the way we make it up
44:49 - is education
44:50 - we need to make sure we're educating the public to understand
44:53 - where things are going and the shifts
44:55 - like we're seeing the trades
44:57 - we need a lot more people back on the tray absolutely
45:00 - and we need to shift the way we were looking at things
45:03 - okay
45:04 - AI is handling this over here now
45:06 - let's do this so we had we often says we look at public education
45:10 - we can't teach the same way we did fifty years ago
45:13 - we have to be more fluid in the way we're teaching
45:15 - because we need to move with the times
45:18 - so there are things that we taught in school that we don't need to teach anymore
45:21 - because there's no place for it anymore
45:22 - it's either been taken up by maybe AI or it's just
45:25 - not necessary any longer
45:27 - so we need to look and be fluid in the way that
45:29 - we're looking at how we're we're training
45:32 - our staff and the public in the future
45:34 - there's various pieces of legislation dealing
45:36 - with AI and data center development that are
45:38 - living through the general assembly as the sessions getting close to wrapping up
45:42 - what do you expect to dance.
45:45 - I think the villages came out of the house on the moratorium one
45:48 - i think the chat bot bill.
45:50 - Will go yet
45:52 - a bill that we.
45:53 - Are enrolled bill will go and potentially the foreign
45:56 - ownership bell will go.
45:59 - All the restrictions on how much
46:01 - they could you know electric bills
46:03 - because of the data centers and terrifying them i think we'll see something
46:06 - completely terrible yeah i i agree the tariff bill is huge we we cannot expect our
46:11 - average ratepayer
46:12 - to have to carry the cost for a data center that's making millions and millions and
46:17 - millions of dollars it's just not right so
46:19 - the tariff bill will definitely probably.
46:21 - I guess I've been center or Tracy pennycook majority chair of the senate
46:24 - communications and technology committee and representative Joseph Reese the majority
46:28 - chair of the house communications and technology committee
46:30 - thank you
46:31 - for joining us thank you thank you.
46:33 - He
46:33 - recently spoke with representative Eric divines
46:36 - about his proposal to give Pennsylvania families two hundred
46:38 - and fifty dollars for their fourth of July barbecues.
46:43 - Welcome to our program you are proposing
46:45 - legislation to supply two hundred and fifty dollars
46:48 - to families in Pennsylvania for their fourth of July barbecues
46:52 - why propose this.
46:54 - So we over corrected
46:57 - nine hundred roughly nine hundred and twenty five million dollars
47:00 - so
47:01 - i want to give that money back
47:03 - to the folks to pay it and i want to give it back to the.
47:06 - Pennsylvania
47:07 - but i also want to take this time as we celebrate america's two fifty.
47:11 - I want folks to
47:13 - to be able to enjoy enjoy their picnic right
47:15 - we know folks are hurting at the gas pumps
47:18 - we know food prices everybody's hurting right now
47:21 - being
47:21 - the state over collected this money let's give it back
47:24 - not give anybody any reason
47:27 - not to celebrate
47:28 - america.
47:30 - That was
47:30 - kind of the
47:31 - principle behind
47:33 - where did this over collected ma we come from.
47:36 - So it would have been
47:37 - tax revenue you know so Pennsylvania overspent you know.
47:42 - Folks have been reaching out hey this is a stimulus
47:45 - you know you're going to you're going to you're going to create inflation you know
47:47 - you're you're going to make inflation go higher than it is
47:49 - you're going to take money from the budget this money was it for transportation was
47:53 - for education this was overpayment in the sense that
47:57 - folks in Pennsylvania they overspent.
48:00 - On our tax collections
48:02 - and the state has a surplus right now.
48:04 - Can you walk us through the process about how other
48:06 - people in Pennsylvania would be able to claim this money.
48:10 - So those specifics wouldn't
48:12 - you know i think we would just do it as normal tax
48:15 - collection right whenever we would do your refund
48:18 - through your state
48:19 - income tax you get a refund that way
48:21 - i think we would just go through that same principle of eight years or
48:25 - if
48:25 - if you qualify for a household of Pennsylvania
48:27 - years a two hundred and fifty dollar check for you
48:29 - keep it simple
48:30 - you know this isn't something there's no gotcha here
48:33 - i don't want to come back tax off of.
48:36 - Folks spend the money
48:37 - we're going to dump it back into the economy or
48:39 - small businesses are going to benefit from it
48:41 - and we will we will create spending her.
48:44 - How did you come up with the idea for this legislation.
48:48 - Sitting in approach when we were
48:50 - i dunno if it was the beginning of may but we had this money that was extra
48:54 - and what
48:56 - what
48:56 - better way to give it back to the folks right so i also believe that
49:00 - i also believe in small government we shouldn't be living outside of our means
49:04 - and folks are hurting right now you know let's
49:07 - let's be clear about that
49:09 - and if we overcorrected
49:10 - it's time to give give somebody back and i also believe moving forward
49:14 - we need to tighten it up out here in Harrisburg
49:16 - we need to live within our means in Harrisburg.
49:19 - What feedback have you heard regarding this legislation
49:22 - so most of the discipline pop
49:24 - but I've heard from some folks like i said you know this was just gonna
49:27 - it's just gonna drive up and Fraser but i don't think people understand
49:31 - this is money that was overspent you know
49:34 - if i go to the grocery store
49:35 - and my bills one hundred dollars and i give the clerk one hundred and twenty bucks
49:39 - i want that twenty dollars back
49:41 - and i look at this is a similar we we over.
49:44 - And it's just getting that money back
49:46 - into the folks'
49:47 - hands now you have people that are just haters out there
49:49 - in general you know they're going to find something
49:51 - but
49:52 - it's
49:52 - i truly believe that your average family of four that are struggling right now
49:57 - this is beneficial
49:58 - this will not drive up the number on a budget this will not drive up inflation
50:02 - the super two hundred and fifty dollars back into the pockets of those everyday folks
50:07 - they could go down to butcher store maybe instead of buying hamburgers or
50:10 - cheeseburgers for the fourth of July
50:12 - maybe they get that steak for the family or
50:14 - maybe in the morning before they go spend family
50:17 - time they go to Starbucks or dunkin donuts
50:19 - whenever that
50:20 - whatever your picnic is right whenever we can be a family on.
50:24 - Whatever we can
50:25 - with that two hundred and fifty dollars must be a family and
50:28 - really
50:29 - let's go one step farther just imagine a four or five.
50:32 - Families got together as o'clock
50:34 - now you're talking twelve hundred and fifty bucks for a family of four or five you
50:37 - could probably go get some fireworks after that right
50:40 - after your your picnic
50:41 - let's be america let's put family structure into this for
50:45 - i hear
50:46 - and let's truly get back to the fundamentals of america lastly where is this built in
50:50 - the legislative process currently right now the bills currently being drafted
50:54 - i will be introducing it and as we go through
50:57 - the budget process i will be working for bills
51:00 - to put an amendment
51:01 - on some of the bills to
51:02 - really push this out because
51:04 - i truly believe in it
51:05 - as and.
51:06 - Why should
51:07 - why should we as Pennsylvania legislator
51:09 - why should we keep that one billion dollars rolled over into next year's budget
51:13 - that just think
51:14 - it will inflate the number for years to come so that billion dollars will be there
51:18 - forever and it should we have an opportunity here.
51:21 - Give the money back to the folks to pay.
51:24 - Representative Eric de vans out thank you for joining us
51:27 - no problem thank you.
51:30 - That concludes today's show
51:32 - reminder about tomorrow's episode of the pie fan capital preview
51:35 - former Pennsylvania speaker of the house built a waif and ceo of quantum
51:39 - communications Charlie Gerard join us to talk about the state budget
51:43 - that's tomorrow live at nine am.
51:45 - For instance shirts are thanks for watching.