HARRISBURG, Pa., Feb. 3, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- The Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry today said the governor's plan to tax allowable manufacturing emissions is an ill-advised plan that will only ensure that Pennsylvania continues to lose manufacturing jobs, while the impact of his call for significant increases in waste disposal tipping fees will be felt by business and all consumers.
"Pennsylvania once had a strong, vibrant manufacturing community," said Jim Welty, PA Chamber Vice President of Legislative and Corporate Affairs. "But this industry has fallen on tough times over the past decade, particularly in recent years."
Since January 1990, Pennsylvania has lost more than 236,000 manufacturing jobs, with 150,200 of those jobs lost between July 2000 and November 2003.
"At a time when lawmakers and business leaders are examining ways to bolster this once proud industry, it would be counter-productive to implement an additional tax on manufacturing," Welty said. "Further adding to the cost of doing business in the Commonwealth is not the way to make Pennsylvania the national and worldwide manufacturing leader it once was."
Welty questioned the fairness of implementing a tax that appears to penalize manufacturers for emissions that are allowed under state and federal law, and cautioned that Pennsylvanians can expect to pay more for trash collection if haulers are forced to pay more for trash disposal.
A bright spot in the governor's budget address was a reaffirmation of his commitment to convene a tax commission to study the state's onerous tax structure. Welty said the PA Chamber welcomes the opportunity to work with the administration to improve Pennsylvania's business tax climate.
"As part of that process, we hope he'll rethink the regressive policies that are hindering the ability of Pennsylvania's job creators to compete," Welty said. "We need policies that foster, rather than discourage, economic growth, and we need to be able to effectively say to existing and future employers, 'here's why Pennsylvania is a great place in which to do business.'"
The Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry is the state's largest broad-based business association and the fastest growing state chamber in the United States, with more than 10,000 members covering all 67 counties. More information is available on the Chamber's website at www.pachamber.org
The PA Chamber of Business and Industry logo is available at: http://media.primezone.com/prs/single/?pkgid=353