HARRISBURG — Certain employers that hire new workers in Pennsylvania would get to keep 95 percent of the state income tax withheld from the workers' paychecks under a bill moving quickly through the state House of Representatives.

The bill sponsored by Republican Rep. Kerry Benninghoff was awaiting final action in the chamber Wednesday.

It was designed as an incentive to attract companies from outside the state before it was amended to include in-state companies.

Participating employers would give the state only 5 percent of the income-tax payments for five to 10 years depending on the number and location of the jobs.

The Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center, a liberal think tank, is urging lawmakers to reject the bill because it would be expensive and would duplicate existing job-creation tax credits.

PHILADELPHIA — Candy maker Hershey is vowing to use only certified cocoa for all of its chocolate products by 2020 and accelerate programs to help eliminate child labor in the cocoa regions of West Africa.The central Pennsylvania company says certified cocoa will be verified through independent auditors to assure the highest labor, environmental and farming practices are used.The company also vowed to keep supporting such community development programs as village school construction and literacy and health programs.Hershey has come under fire recently from activists who said it was the only major chocolate producer that hadn't committed to use certified cocoa.

JUNEAU, Alaska — A liquefied natural gas project in Alaska could cost more than $65 billion and would represent a mega-project of “unprecedented scale and challenge,” officials behind the project told Gov. Sean Parnell.In a letter to Parnell released by the governor's office late Wednesday, officials with TransCanada and the North Slope's three major players said good progress has been made in pursuing a project. But they said “significant environmental, regulatory, engineering and commercial work remains to reach upcoming decisions to bring North Slope gas to market.”They estimated the cost of a pipeline project could range from $45 billion to more than $65 billion, involve up to 1.7 million tons of steel and employ up to 15,000 people during peak construction and more than 1,000 in Alaska permanently. The project concept description lists capacity for a large-diameter line at 3 billion to 3.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas a day. It does not specify the terminus for any line, only that it would run from the North Slope about 800 miles to south-central Alaska.“We will continue to keep you advised of our progress and stand committed to work with the state to responsibly develop its considerable resources,” the officials said in their letter.