Advocacy Forum

Of politics and promises, much can be said, but in the early days of the 2010 gubernatorial contest, it is encouraging that many of the early promises made by the candidates are focused on growing Pennsylvania’s innovation economy.

In recognition that job creation is the number one issue on the minds of Pennsylvania voters, each of the candidates have promised to make economic development and job creation the top priorities of their prospective administrations.  However, this year, and as sign of the times, both candidates’ job creation strategies rely heavily on unleashing the power of the innovation economy to create family sustaining jobs for Pennsylvanians and both have targeted Pennsylvania’s business climate for several long-overdue improvements.

On the latter issue, both candidates are pledging to enact reforms to Pennsylvania’s business tax structure, including promised reductions in the corporate net income tax (Onorato would reduce the CNI to 7.9 percent, Corbett would reduce it to 6.9 percent).  Both candidates also promised to fully eliminate the capital stock and franchise tax, improve our net operating loss carry-forward provisions and eliminate components of our corporate net income tax formula that penalize employers for investing in facilities and employees in the Commonwealth.

As previously mentioned, both candidates have posted innovation strategies to support the growth of the state’s technology economy.  Issues that received support from both candidates include the need to restore Pennsylvania’s R&D tax credit, the importance of providing funding for Pennsylvania’s Ben Franklin Technology Partners (which was cut by more than 60 percent last year) and the need to support angel investment initiatives (Onorato pledged to expand the Pennsylvania Angel Network, while Corbett proposed the creation of an angel investment tax credit).

For his part, Onorato proposed the creation of a new $25 million fund that would provide matching grants to support industry research at Pennsylvania’s colleges and universities.  Corbett has proposed a new initiative help spin new technologies out of Pennsylvania Universities by creating a new public-private partnership called “Discovered in PA – Developed in PA” that would focus on strong private-public partnerships and best practices in technology commercialization.

On creating greater access to start-up financing, Onorato has proposed a new tax incentive that will allow small businesses to keep more of their capital during their initial years to speed their growth, while also proposing to “prudently increase the state’s venture capital investment in Pennsylvania companies.” 

On the same subject, Corbett proposed the creation of an Angel investment tax credit to spur additional private sector investment, and a new matching grant program to encourage small businesses to increase their participation in the federal government’s small business innovative research (SBIR) grant programs.

Again, much can be said of promises and politics, but the mere fact that both candidates are actively seeking opportunities to leverage the power our state’s innovation economy to both create jobs and to win their own elections is a very promising sign.

If you are interested in learning more about these issues or other policy positions held by the candidates, you can visit the candidates’ websites, where you will find extensive policy positions on a wide range of issues.