State Sen. John Yudichak, I-Luzerne/Carbon; Rep. Aaron Kaufer, R-Luzerne; and supporters of House Bill 732 gathered together Thursday to celebrate the signing of House Bill 732 by Gov. Tom Wolf.

Last week, Yudichak offered an amendment to House Bill 732, after negotiations with the Wolf Administration and several business and labor organizations, that establishes the Local Resource Manufacturing Tax Credit to attract private investment in the construction and operation of Pennsylvania manufacturing facilities that use dry natural gas to produce fertilizer and other petrochemical products.

Specifically, Yudichak’s amendment provided a tax credit against 20 percent of a qualified company’s annual tax liabilities.

Qualifying for the Local Resource Manufacturing Tax Credit requires a company to invest $400 million in the construction of a new manufacturing facility, create 800 new and permanent jobs, pay prevailing wages and benefits, and use carbon capture and sequestration technology when economically feasible.

The Local Resource Manufacturing Tax Credit has no immediate fiscal impact to the state budget, and no tax credit is payable until at least 2025 when companies would become eligible to apply.

The Pennsylvania Manufacturers’ Association’s economic analysis of House Bill 732 estimates that more than 4,400 jobs and over $1.6 billion in economic benefits would be generated from the construction of four manufacturing facilities under the provisions of the legislation.

“Never has the interest of business and labor worked harder for the greater public good than the enactment of the Local Resource Manufacturing Tax Credit that will create thousands of new jobs and set the stage for the growth of entirely new manufacturing industries in northeastern Pennsylvania,” said Yudichak.

“Act 66 of 2020 is a bipartisan, thoughtful compromise between Gov. Tom Wolf and the legislature that will leverage northeastern Pennsylvania resources to create northeastern Pennsylvania jobs for northeastern Pennsylvania families.”