Honesdale business owners stand to get $100,000 for Main Street revitalization from the proposed state budget.
Since announcing an additional $25 million for the state’s Main Street Matters program, Gov. Josh Shapiro has been expanding existing projects across the state.
At Runaway Train Brewery in Honesdale, Shapiro highlighted two areas of focus for Main Street Matters.
“Number one, the infrastructure of main street. Again, think sidewalks, lighting, parking, you name it. But then also, second, directly to those shop owners. Let’s fix up those facades. Let’s make sure the stores are more inviting,” said Shapiro. “If they need that one big piece of equipment that’s going to allow them and their sales to go gangbusters, that’s what we need to do.”
Besides making Pennsylvania-owned businesses more competitive, Shapiro reiterated his promise to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. Residents living in border towns like Honesdale often work in New York or New Jersey to make a decent living, he said.
“Since we set [the minimum wage] at $7.25, thirty states have raised their minimum wage. Every single neighboring state around us has wages raised higher than ours,” said Shapiro.
Shapiro also covered his stance on marijuana legalization. While serving as attorney general, he prosecuted possession. However, in his budget address, he called for legalization of cannabis and to expunge small possession records.
On a personal note, he explained how his views on marijuana changed over time.
“Candidly, the thing I had to get over most, is that I am a father of four. And that I didn’t want to see my children…using marijuana. I didn’t want to see marijuana being in a place where it would be more readily accessible to young people across Pennsylvania,” said Shapiro. “And the reality is, the more I studied, the more I talked to experts, the more I talked to states that had legalized – our kids were more at risk of getting access to marijuana through the black market, than through a regulated market.”
Legalization, he argued, would crack down on the black market and allow law-enforcement to focus on regulating harder drugs, like fentanyl. The administration also estimates that marijuana sales would bring the state $250 million in tax revenue per year, if legalized.
Main Street Matters is part of the state’s proposed budget announced earlier this month. State legislators have until July to approve it.
