Corbett development nominee moves towards confirmation
Share with others:
HARRISBURG -- C. Alan Walker easily surmounted the first hurdle this morning on the track to becoming secretary of the state Department of Community and Economic Development.
After a one-hour confirmation hearing, the Senate Community, Economic and Recreational Committee unanimously agreed to the nomination, moving it to the full Senate for a vote.
House action is not required.
"All the members of this committee were delighted by your nomination," committee Chairwoman Jane Earll, R-Erie, said as the hearing ended. "You have a sense of optimism, and I'm delighted by that."
Mr. Walker, who already is serving as acting secretary, said the department is working well already, but some of its programs could be refined by requiring more accountability for the expenditure of tax dollars.
"There's basically not too much wrong with the programs that are there," he said.
Gov. Tom Corbett, though, has expressed concerns about the department's reputation, Mr. Walker said.
"He felt the department has earned a black eye because of legislative initiatives," he said, referring to grants that have become known as walking-around-money.
Lawmakers use them to bring targeted funding for projects in their districts. The funds are controlled by House and Senate leaders and believed to be doled out as rewards for lawmakers who cast favorable votes or fall in line with leadership.
Mr. Walker said there hasn't been enough accountability for those dollars.
He said he intends to focus the department's work on public-private partnerships, to develop rubrics to measure program performance and to ensure grants are awarded based on competition, not a sense of entitlement.
Responding to a question from Sen. Wayne Fontana, D-Brookline, Mr. Walker said he supports tax credit programs, such as one that provides breaks to filmmakers who produce projects in Pennsylvania.
"I like the concept because [the credits] have to be earned. It's not just handing money out there," he said. "It's a pretty good incentive to get people to do the things you want them to do."
Mr. Walker said he expects natural gas drilling to play a large part in Pennsylvania's economic recovery by creating jobs for welders and others.
Drillers will create an "incredible economic boom," he said. "We need to make them feel that they're welcome here in Pennsylvania."
Mr. Corbett has said he opposes taxing the industry as his predecessor Ed Rendell tried to do.
Mr. Walker is a former coal industry executive and prominent Republican fundraiser who contributed $106,607 to Mr. Corbett's political campaigns over the last three years.
He is past chairman of the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry and the Pennsylvania Coal Association.
Mr. Walker is the first cabinet nominee to go through a confirmation hearing.
Sheri Philips, nominee for secretary of general services, is scheduled for a confirmation hearing this afternoon.
First Published March 1, 2011 11:25 am
