Pennsylvania TownHall -- Where the Voice of Pennsylvania is Heard!

PA Chamber of Business and Industry

Job Creators Want Tax Cuts to be Focus of 08-09 Budget

PA Chamber: Will stimulate job growth

by News Release

For more information, contact
Lesley Smith, Director of Communications, 717 720-5446

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, Feb. 4, 2008

HARRISBURG, PA – The Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry today renewed the call for elected officials to make economic stimulus through business tax reductions the focal point of this year's budget.

"Pennsylvania needs a new approach in order to improve its economic standing with the rest of the nation," said Gene Barr, PA Chamber vice president of government and public affairs. "There are steps lawmakers and the administration can take now that will reap long-term benefits for Pennsylvania, its economy and its residents."

Two key tax changes supported by the PA Chamber and the unified business community include the elimination of the cap on net operating losses and implementing a single sales factor apportionment formula for the Corporate Net Income tax.

Removing the NOL cap would be particularly beneficial to start-up businesses, which often lose money in their first years of operation, while implementing a single sales factor would mean that Pennsylvania businesses would no longer be penalized for increasing investments in capital and hiring employees.

These reforms are priorities of the CompetePA Coalition, an initiative comprising more than 100 business groups – including the PA Chamber – individual businesses and local chambers of commerce throughout the state.

"Pennsylvania's job creators need a solid foundation on which to compete with the rest of the nation, both during times of economic growth and particularly during times of economic uncertainty," said Barr, who noted that studies suggest that tax reductions do work to spur economic development. "On behalf of our thousands of member businesses, the Pennsylvania Chamber urges the administration and elected officials to build on business tax reforms that were included in the 2006-07 budget and are widely supported in the legislature now."

###

The Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry is the state's largest broad-based business association, with its membership representing nearly 50 percent of the private workforce. More information is available on the PA Chamber's website at www.pachamber.org.