What kind of role can tourism in Erie County play to try and help revive the Pennsylvania economy?
Well obviously tourism in Erie County is a very large industry. We have one of the largest indoor water parks in Erie County, and obviously we have the peninsula, of course. Wineries are growing throughout the state, and again I have a tremendous amount of wineries just in my district. I’m in the heart of the grape belt; my neighbor is a grape farmer. So I do try and stay in touch with my wineries. Obviously the wineries are concerned about their line item, which deals with research and development and of course they are tied in with the tourism industry when it comes to promoting their industry. You know we have a brand new convention center up here in Erie and an accompanying hotel. I sit on the tourism committee in the House, so obviously I wanted to be on that committee because tourism is very close to my heart as it deals with Erie County. There’s been a lot of bad news this year in regards to services and programs being cut or eliminated. What good news can you give the residents
