Congressman Tours Area
Johnson seeks input from business leaders
March 17, 2012
STEUBENVILLE – Local business leaders discussed the economic impact of natural gas drilling, rising health care costs and other issues with U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson, R-Marietta, during his visit to the area Friday.
Janie Mayle, president and chief executive officer of Voto Sales, told Johnson rising health care costs for employees is a major concern. The cost to provide coverage to the business’ 47 employees (including 11 at its Clarion, Pa., location) soon will rise by 45 percent, compared to 24 percent last year, she said.
“Obviously there’s a huge problem with drug and medical costs,” Mayle said.
She said leaders of the company, which has been employee-owned since 2006, have avoided passing on the increased cost to staff, though their co-payments have been increased.
Noting he voted to repeal President Obama’s health care legislation, Johnson said Congress needs “to put control back in the hands of patients and doctors” to bring about lower costs.
Mayle said like many, she doesn’t have an easy answer to the problem but hopes federal lawmakers can do something to curb the costs.
Johnson said he’s heard concerns about increased health care costs all over his district and he believes health care reform introduced by the Obama administration is responsible for driving the costs up.
The company distributes more than 1,000 products for the maintenance and repair of industrial equipment to more than 800 companies.
Mayle hopes to broaden that clientele to include many natural gas companies. The Clarion location already has seen a significant increase in business through that industry, and she believes in time, the Steubenville location will benefit, too.
“We see big opportunities now with oil and gas coming to our area. We produce and sell products they use every day. We think it will just be a matter of time as long as our government doesn’t chase them away,” she said.
Mayle explained she believes government regulations are needed to protect the environment but hopes they won’t be so stringent they hamper development.
She said two employees have been added to the company’s specialty products division, which produces wire rope products, and slings of wire rope, round rope and chain for industrial applications.
Mayle said more may be added, pending a contract with the federal government to produce materials for watercraft.
The decline of the local steel industry has affected both Voto Sales and Genesis Steel Corp., another local business visited by Johnson Friday. Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel once was a major client of Voto, while the steel firm was a major supplier for Genesis until recent years.
The steel service center supplies sheets and coils with a wide variety of tempers, coatings and surface finishes for use in manufacturing and construction. But Duke Rakich, chief executive officer for Genesis, said the business still receives product from RG Steel, ArcelorMittal and Wheeling-Nisshin as well as several other steel producers in the region such as Sharon Steel Corp. and Majestic Steel USA.
Rakich said the company also has diversified, producing thousands of skid locks and angles used in shipping and storing heavy materials in recent years.
Rakich also expects a boom in business with the spread of natural gas drilling operations and a need for construction materials. He added one way the federal government could help his business is through low-interest loans that could be used to improve and repair facilities.
Johnson said he’s encountered many companies like Genesis Steel that want a helping hand instead of a handout, and the federal government can help by creating conditions that encourage financial institutions to loan funds for capital improvements.
He said the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act, approved recently by the House of Representatives and pending in the Senate, “would break down bureaucratic red tape and other barriers” that deter such loans.
Johnson said he shares Mayle’s and Rakich’s optimism about the impact of natural gas drilling.
“We’re very excited about jobs being created around the Marcellus and Utica shale and optimistic that pattern will continue,” he said.
Bill Johnson Applauds Actions to STOP President Obama’s War on Coal
Washington, D.C., Mar 1 -
Congressman Bill Johnson (R-Marietta) released the following statement following news that the House Natural Resources Committee with bipartisan support approved his legislation – H.R. 3409 – the Coal Miner Employment and Domestic Energy Infrastructure Protection Act, which prevents the Obama Administration from enacting a job-killing coal mining regulation. This important legislation is expected to be considered by the full House later this Spring.
“We are now one step closer to stopping President Obama’s war on the coal industry and the jobs that go with it. There is no question that coal is vital to providing reliable, low cost electricity to America – especially in Ohio where 87 percent of our energy comes from coal-fired power plants. This important legislation would block President Obama’s proposed rewrite of the Stream Buffer Zone rule that would cost over 100,000 direct and indirect coal jobs and cause energy prices to skyrocket,” said Bill Johnson.
Johnson added, “Right now, Americans are experiencing firsthand President Obama’s destructive energy policies that are continuing to make our economy worse. Since the President took office, gas prices at the pump have doubled, unemployment has increased, and Americans are paying, on average, $300 more per year for electricity. Hard-working Americans cannot afford this administration’s failed energy policies anymore.”
The Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral resources has held numerous hearings on the Obama Administration’s proposed rewrite of the Stream Buffer Zone Rule that is estimated to cost over 100,000 coal mining and coal industry related jobs.
The Coal Miner Employment and Domestic Energy Infrastructure Protection Act prohibits the Secretary of the Interior from approving any new rules or regulations that could adversely impact employment in coal mines, cause a reduction in federal revenue from coal mining, or diminish the ability for America to produce coal.
Gridlocked Congress might Respond to Docked Pay
By Daniel Indiviglio and Richard Beales
The authors are Reuters Breakingviews columnists. The opinions expressed are their own.
If you don’t do the basics of your job, you shouldn’t get paid. It’s a simple concept, but lately it has been a foreign idea to the U.S. Congress. Federal lawmakers haven’t passed an annual budget in over 1,000 days. A new bill could apply a little financial pressure.
The “Pass a Budget Now Act” was introduced on Wednesday by Representative Bill Johnson. The Ohio Republican proposes to stop paying members of Congress after April 15 each year if no budget has passed, until it has. The lost pay would go toward paying off the rapidly growing U.S. debt.
California started a similar experiment when residents voted in favor of Proposition 25 in November 2010. John Chiang, the state’s comptroller, last year interpreted the rule as calling for a balanced budget. Lawmakers had passed something, but it didn’t balance and it was vetoed by Jerry Brown, the California governor. Pay was halted, and legislators later sued Chiang. But something worked: after less than two weeks, a balanced budget did pass.
The situation in Congress is of course different. Though an annual budget process is enshrined in law, some would argue federal lawmakers don’t in practice really need to use it – they can rely on so-called continuing resolutions to allocate funds, the strategy over the past few years. But a budget with both revenue and expense items set out in black and white might encourage fiscal prudence as well as forward planning. After all, establishing a budget is a step any credit counselor would recommend to someone with a debt problem.
Supporters of the new bill could even go further. Members of Congress collect some pretty generous perks, including travel – sometimes by government jet – and top-of-the-line healthcare. Wall Street knows financial incentives are powerful. Stop the paychecks and the perks, and dogma could suddenly take a back seat to pragmatism.
Johnson, however, faces an uphill struggle. In California, voters put the pay measure on the ballot and made it happen. In Congress, it will be up to the lawmakers who would be directly affected. Many of them have in recent years taken pride in prevaricating. And most, surely, would be loath to jeopardize their own pay and perks.
Ohio Energy Production: A Return to American Exceptionalism
Congressman Bill Johnson - Ohio’s 6th Congressional District
According to most experts, part of the world’s largest deposit of natural gas lies right beneath our feet here in Eastern and Southeastern Ohio. It’s comprised of the Marcellus Shale and the Utica Shale, and it has the potential of bringing a tremendous economic lift for our area. Exploration of this expansive natural resource is a game changer for Ohio, not only for energy development and independence but for job creation. A recent study found that more than 200,000 jobs are expected to come to Ohio in the future as a result of the Marcellus and Utica Shales. If that’s not the path to economic prosperity, I don’t know what is.
But, the direct job opportunities derived from natural gas development aren’t isolated to simply harvesting the resource. They also include housing, retail, entertainment, and other manufacturing and service sector support functions necessary to sustain the industry. This is a new, emerging chapter in the type of American innovation and exceptionalism that has defined America’s national character. I remember another such era in America’s history … I bet many of you will remember it, too.
It was called the “Space Race,” and it began in the early 1960s. President John F. Kennedy made it America’s national vision to land a man on the moon in ten years. It was an ambitious mission that gave our nation focus, and fostered an ‘all in’ camaraderie that we are sorely lacking today. The mission engaged our academic community, the business community, our political leaders on both sides of the aisle, government agencies, and even our military. Imagine that! Government agencies working with the private sector, rather than against it. And, it didn’t take ten years. Neil Armstrong took that “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind” in seven years. It was American exceptionalism at work.
We have the opportunity to see that kind of national excitement again. Because, much like the Space Race, we are on the cusp of new energy innovations and opportunities with the development of natural gas and oil in the Marcellus and Utica Shales. But to capitalize, we must keep federal government agencies like the EPA and the Department of the Interior from blocking critical progress.
With any major growth and development, there are challenges that must be met and decisions to be made to protect the public good. It is critically important that the big energy companies that have already set up shop in Eastern and Southeastern Ohio as well, as those on the way, put Ohio back to work – jobs for Ohioans, filled by Ohioans. It’s also important that Ohioans who choose to lease their land are treated fairly, with their rights protected by law. These are some of my priorities.
Our state and our nation stand at a crossroads. History has shown that when the American innovative spirit is free from the chains of big government, all hard-working Americans prosper. In contrast, more government, more job-killing regulations, and higher taxes stifle the American spirit – and result in the persistently high unemployment and economic uncertainty we’re witnessing now.
I believe we must rediscover our belief in American exceptionalism. We can do it around a national vision of energy independence and security. Eastern and Southeastern Ohio have been blessed with these resources and we can play a major role in revitalizing America’s economic engine by capitalizing on the opportunities from the Marcellus and Utica Shales. Because, after all, this is America and we Americans can do anything – history tells the world this is true.
