Bob's Blog
Extending the Payroll Tax Cut Through 2012
Today, I will take part in the Payroll Tax Cut Conference Committee’s first meeting, as we begin our work to reach agreement on an employee payroll tax cut for all of 2012.
Just before the holidays, the payroll tax cut, which had been set to expire at the end of December, was extended for two months through February. This extension prevented a tax increase on 6.7 million workers in Pennsylvania and provided some good news for families going into Christmas.
The payroll tax cut reduces employees’ share of the Social Security payroll tax from 6.2 percent to 4.2 percent of earnings. For the average Pennsylvania worker, this tax cut will boost take-home pay by nearly $1,000 in 2012.
Combating the Brown Marmorated Stink Bugs
October brings the peak of the apple harvest and National Apple Month. Apples are a major crop for Pennsylvanian farmers. In 2010, our State produced nearly $75 million worth and 490 million pounds of apples, ranking it fourth in the nation. Pennsylvania is an ideal place to grow apples, with hundreds of varieties grown across the State.
However, stink bugs have recently become more of a pest in Pennsylvania orchards and farms. These bugs damage crops, such as fruit, by sucking out the juice and injecting saliva. Stink bugs leave pockmarks and spots on the affected crops, making them unmarketable. As an example of their destructive nature, stink bugs cost apple farmers in the Mid-Atlantic region $37 million last year alone. It is essential to the livelihoods of Pennsylvania farmers to find ways to control the bug and alleviate its devastating impact on our food crops.
Therefore, I am pleased that Penn State University recently received a Federal research grant to identify ways to combat the Brown Marmorated Stink Bugs that are ravaging crop yields. The Penn State Fruit Research and Extension Center and its partners will use this funding to study the negative impact that stink bugs have on orchard crops, vegetables, small fruit and other crops. The research will aid in the development of control strategies designed to mitigate the pest’s impact on farms. The research is supported the by the Specialty Crop Research Initiative through the U.S. Department of Agriculture. As a member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, I strongly supported the Specialty Crop Research Initiative in the last Farm Bill and will continue to do so.
Passing of Steve Jobs
Today, I join millions in remembering the extraordinary life and work of Steve Jobs. His leadership and creativity fueled innovations that reshaped multiple industries. Thanks in large part to Steve Jobs’s vision, the United States technology sector is an area of promising growth that has spurred renewal in parts of Pennsylvania and other regions nationwide. As I work in the U.S. Senate to improve access to computer science, technology, engineering and mathematics education, I keep in mind the powerful impact of Steve Jobs, an inspiration who will be missed. My thoughts and prayers are with him and his family.
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