Question Of The Day

If Fed Ex and UPS were to merge, would they call it Fed UP? ?

Hat tip Cathy Craddock

What’s With The Crony Capitalism, Cox?

Lawmakers unveiled bipartisan legislation this week to encourage investment in Pennsylvania’s high-tech industries, promote entrepreneurship and create jobs, reports State Rep. Jim Cox (R-129).

Known as the Innovate Pennsylvania Program, House Bill 2633 establishes a program to raise funds for investment in the high-tech sector through the Ben Franklin Technology Development Authority (BFTDA) and the Commonwealth Life Science Greenhouses. 

Why worry about selling to the market when you can sell to a politician? 

The program will provide funding for investments  by auctioning off deferred insurance premium tax credits at a reduced rate to insurance companies that pay tax in the Commonwealth. 

Why don’t they do that to give a tax cut to the citizens? Or pay off some of our crushing debt which would lower the tax-funded interest payments? Or just forget all that and cut the insurance tax which will cut insurance rates for those in this state?

The capital will then be used to make investments in Pennsylvania-based, high-growth, technology-oriented businesses through life science business incubators and the BFTDA that oversees the regional Ben Franklin Partners. 

IOW, it will give money to people who know politicians. 

Neighboring states of New York, Ohio, New Jersey and Maryland already have programs to encourage investment in high-tech industries.

And look how they are booming. Pennsylvania might actually be doing the best of this particularly sorry lot. Thank you, frackers.

Finance Committees Analyze HB 1776

The House Finance Committee, Senate Finance Committee and the Select Committee on Property Tax Reform will hold a joint public hearing, 10 a.m., this morning, Oct. 1, where the Commonwealth’s Independent Fiscal Office and the Pennsylvania Realtors Association will both present reports analyzing the Property Tax Independence Act (House Bill 1776/Senate Bill 1400).

The bills would end the ability of school districts to tax real estate and replace the funding mechanism with either a income or sales tax which would be collected locally. The  bills, however, do include a state Education Tax that would deposit money into the  state’s Education Stabilization Fund.

The reports are intended to analyze the fiscal construction of the bill and determine if the proposed revenue streams (primarily the state personal income tax and state sales tax) would be able to replace the dollars currently generated by school district property taxes, said  State Rep. Jim Cox (R-129), who is the House bill’s sponsor.

Depending on what the reports conclude, an amendment may be offered to tweak the proposals while adhering to their ultimate goal of replacing school district property taxes.

The hearing can be viewed at Cox’s website.

Finance Committees Analyze HB 1776

Finance Committees Analyze HB 1776