% Specter outlines ideas on agricultural issues
HARRISBURG - What’s a
Philadelphia lawyer doing
out in the farmlands of
Pennsylvania these days?
Arlen Specter is eyeing the
state’s gubernatorial spot.
He traveled in the area last
week, meeting with state
farm organization leaders
and addressing a fund
raising event at Hershey.
Specter was born in
Kansas and worked on a
farm there as a teenager.
After marrying a
Philadelphia girl, he sent up
a law practice in that city. A
growing interest in public
service led him into the job
of district attorney, the
“first Republican to get
elected in the city of
fguladelphia in 25 years,” he
ificalled. While holding the
top legal office m the state’s
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largest city, Specter ad
ministrated a five million
dollar budget and ran an
office of 160 assisting district
attorneys.
During a meeting with key
administrative people of the
Pennsylvania Farmers’
Association, Specter spoke
to several issues of interest
to the agricultural industry,
second only to steel m
economic importance to the
state
One overriding issue in
Specter’s opinion is land
preservation. He sees a need
to keep the agricultural
community intact, not only
for the material value of
insured food production but
also because of the moral
values basically inherent to
the farming population.
A solution for vanishing
H '
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• CONSTRUCTION • RENTAL YARDS
• LANDSCAPING •WAREHOUSES
• FERTILIZER PLANTS •STOCKYARDS
farmland, says Specter’s “A
Platform For Penn
sylvania” is the same as a
solution to the problem
confronting our cities:
balanced growth.
He advocated expanding
business and housing in the
cities, where public services
already exist, and would
coordinate state agencies
already in existence to use
identical multi-county
districts in long-range
planning. The freedom for
some necessary rural ex
pansion would come through
a system of development
points.
When questioned on his
possible choice for a
secretary of agriculture for
the Commonwealth, Specter
replied that it was much too
soon to begin making such
decisions. However, he in
dicated that the office should
definitely be filled by
someone currently in the
fanning business. Assuring
farm organization / leaders
that he would consult with
them on a selection, Specter
added that the present
Secretary is well liked, “a
rarity in the Shapp ad
ministration, where most
are happy if they just
haven’t been indicted.”
A tremendous overlap of
regulatory measures is what
Specter sees as the biggest
headache in current
migratory labor programs.
His recommendations would
include keeping the state out
of the problem, except where
absolutely necessary, and to
demand high caliber people
to carry out any programs
kept intact.
“l hear tremendous
complaints about inspectors
coming into migratory
situations,” Specter told the
farm group administrators.
Sunset legislation was
termed by the gubernatorial
hopeful as “an excellent
idea.” He believes that there
are too many laws that stay
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on the books forever, in
stead, legislation should be
periodically reviewed and
automatically ended, unless
found necessary after
careful examination
Restructuring of
inheritance tax laws was
another agriculture goal that
Specter supports. To a
marketing-bargaining que
ry, Specter replied that he
felt he did not have enough
background on that subject
to give a knowledgeable
answer.
“We need some sensible
standards for determining
when someone is hurt,” was
his prompt reply to
questioning about work
men’s compensation in
surance rates. Specter feels
that the program has been
abused to the point where
even labor leaders are
recognizing the need for
overhaul. The Governor
plays an important role m
determining how insurance
cases on medical injury may
be handled, he says, because
the judges making the legal
decisions are often political
appointees.
“Our economy has gotten
out of whack, and the farther
we stray from the free en
terprise system, the more
trouble we get in,” ad
monished Specter as he
detailed some suggestions
toward solving the state’s
budget headaches.
One step he would suggest
for cutting the eight billion
dollar spending would be
contracting out to private
firms much of the work o*
the Pennsylvania Depart
ment of Transportation
(Penn Dot). Private com
panies, he insists, would just
do a much better job of the
maintenance and building
work.
Claiming that “welfare is
eating us up,” Specter in
dicated that there is much
fraud in the present system,
some of which he has helped
to expose as Philadelphia’s
district attorney. An en
forced system of iden-
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Arlen Specter considers farmland preservation
to be among the most important issues facing
Pennsylvania agriculture.
tification would help cut
down on some of that
problem, he believes.
Administrative controls
over the bureaucracy is
another step that Specter
would recommend for state
government. If elected, he
would like to take one
hundred people immediately
out into state run offices to
investigate ways of cutting
back spending.
It bothers him that civil
service and unionized em
ployees can’t be fired. Given
the choice of either
knuckling to work or
leaving, he believes some of
the problem workers might
depart.
“It’s a gigantic task,” he
admitted, “but possible.”
Much money must be
spent in Pennsylvania to get
the state’s economy rolling
again and Specter wants to
see that investment in the
form of private capitol, not
public funds. Through the
Pennsylvania Industrial
Development Authority, he
sees the government in
volved in business expansion
only to the point of makmg
available low-rate loan
money.
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Capital stock laws, he
says, must also be made
more fair. Today, in
corporated farms pay an
annual levy on their assets,
while manufacturers are not
required to do so.
In answer to a final
question, Specter insisted
that, if elected, he would do
his utmost to get the death
penalty reinstated in Penn
sylvania as a deterrent to
crimes of violence.
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