Published in the PA Chamber's Catalyst magazine, by Governor Tom Corbett

Winter 2013/14

On January 18, 2011, I was honored and humbled to have stood on the steps of the State Capitol and take an oath to serve as your Governor.

That day, I renewed a promise I had made to Pennsylvanians throughout my campaign to chart a new direction for our state that was rooted in four key works – More Jobs, Less Taxes.

That same day, I inherited a $4.2 billion budget deficit. The state budgets were not only too long, they were irresponsibly late. Our businesses were struggling under the weight of onerous regulations and red tape. More and more Pennsylvanians were out of work. The state’s education budget was artificially inflated with one-time federal stimulus dollars that were gone. We all faced more taxes and future debts as our Commonwealth headed down a track of higher unemployment and continuing economic decline.

We had to act fast, so I set out to accomplish what Pennsylvanians elected me to do.

We balanced our budgets responsibly, not by asking for more money out of your pockets, but by looking within to better spend the dollars you already send Harrisburg.

On your behalf, we demanded government work harder, smarter and with less of your money. We continue to save hundreds of millions through other reforms, innovations and greater efficiencies, including $43 million alone from reducing the size of the state auto-fleet by 20%. For the first time in 40 years, we cut government spending in Pennsylvania and closed the $4.2 billion budget deficit we were handed as we took office, without raising income taxes. Today, the bureaucracy is the smallest it has been in 50 years.

Not only did we balance our budgets, but we did it on time to give families, local governments, contractors and businesses the stability and accountability they deserve. We tightened our belts to prioritize those in need, and today we continue to invest record amounts of state dollars into a better education, and future, for our children and grandchildren.

We took the steps necessary to leave them a more financially-sound state, while equipping them with the tools to be successful.

The next step required renewed cooperation with the private sector to grow our economy and create jobs. The ongoing partnership with groups like the Pennsylvania Chamber has been critical, as we continue to realize our common goals of creating family sustaining jobs for Pennsylvanians now and in our future.

We set out to reform and reduce regulations, lower taxes and get government out of the way to create a climate that would enable business to thrive. These policies have drawn attention from around the world and demonstrated that Pennsylvania is once again open for business.

We saved businesses millions of dollars by restoring solvency in our Unemployment Compensation Fund. We eliminated the inheritance tax on family-owned farms and small businesses, ensuring those legacies could be passed on to future generations. We undertook reforms to our legal system to end frivolous lawsuits and limit jackpot jury awards. And we required state agencies to consider the impact proposed regulations would have on our small businesses.

We again championed innovation, enacting the Manufacturing Tax Credit to keep more resources within our state and rewarding farmers for good management and environmental practices. We encouraged investment in growth through Innovate PA, raised the cap for net operating losses, repealed the corporate loans tax and gave start-up entrepreneurs the tools needed for early growth.

Instead of more burdens, we empowered the private sector to lead our economic growth, and today, we have more than 140,000 new private sector jobs to show for it since I took office in 2011.

Embracing our energy sector has been another opportunity for growth for our Commonwealth. We have long been blessed with great opportunities to tap into our natural resources beneath our feet and all around us in coal, wind, solar, hydroelectric, nuclear and other alternative forms of energy. But it has been natural gas development in the Marcellus Shale that has ushered in a new era of growth and a second industrial revolution for Pennsylvania.

Under my administration, Pennsylvania has grown to become the second largest producer of natural gas in the nation, reinvesting billions of dollars into our state. Local communities in economic decline for decades are experiencing renewed growth and investment. Farmers have tapped into new sources of income on their lands. And Pennsylvania’s families and small businesses have seen a 40% decrease in what they are paying for electricity.

The industry has given new opportunities for innovation itself, attracting the interest of Royal Dutch Shell building a new ethane cracker plant, saving refinery jobs in Philadelphia, reviving Pennsylvania’s storied shipbuilding history or even providing the energy to power New York City.

Other industries and sectors are rising to meet the demands of new investments and the needs for piping, fleet vehicles, railways, drilling equipment or just hospitality for the new people who have ventured here. Today, over 200,000 Pennsylvania jobs are directly or indirectly benefitting from the proliferation of responsible natural gas development and there is no end in sight to the potential we have.

Last November, we also took the first step in upgrading Pennsylvania’s infrastructure in over two decades. Working in a bipartisan manner with the legislature and business community, we were able to pass a $2.3 billion investment in repairing, expanding and maintaining our roads, bridges, commercial rail, public transit systems and more.

The needs were staggering, but the benefits are necessary and priceless. Additionally, new construction and maintenance will save 12,000 existing jobs and create 50,000 new family-sustaining jobs.

Local governments and the taxpayers will see relief in project funding, where for the first time in half a century, we were able to ease their burdens by reforming our outdated prevailing wage laws.

Individuals and businesses will benefit from the elimination of the retail gas tax at the pump, and eventually experience the savings of less time in congestion or traffic jams or less money spent on car repairs due to the poor state of Pennsylvania’s roads and bridges.

With this legislation also comes the peace of mind that we are investing in the public safety of Pennsylvanians, including the 1.5 million school children on busses every day, our families running errands or commuting to work and first responders just doing their job to protect us.

All that we have accomplished here in Pennsylvania tells a very different narrative from the turmoil and gridlock we see in Washington, D.C.

ObamaCare, a law we knew from the beginning was flawed policy, continues to unravel, unveiling the disaster of a one-size-fits-all Washington mandate that is cancelling many Pennsylvanians’ coverage and increasing costs for individuals and small businesses.

We will continue to negotiate with the federal government on our counteroffer – Healthy PA – that seeks to increase access to quality, affordable health care with a Pennsylvania solution. We have already built on successful programs like CHIP and achieved an important step towards medical liability reform.

Healthy PA will promote access to primary care and good public health, enhance the delivery of medical needs through technology, support the elderly and those with disabilities and bring common-sense reforms to our Medicaid system to ensure viability for the taxpayers and those in need.

I look forward to continue working with the legislature to put aside political differences and ideologies in order to keep our promise of getting things done for Pennsylvanians while tackling the tough issues that matter not in the span of an election cycle, or a four-year term, but to the lives of our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

The Pennsylvania Chamber has played an important role in fulfilling that vision, placing your trust in me three years ago to do what was necessary on behalf of small businesses and our families around the Commonwealth.

Over the course of our journey, we have unlocked the enormous potential of our people and our economy and as we continue on this path forward, I am honored to once again have your endorsement and your support.

With your help and just a little more hard work, we will be standing on the Capitol steps once again next year to renew a commitment to achieving the brighter future we all know lies just ahead for our Commonwealth.

(Governor Tom Corbett, "Re-Election means renewed commitment to a bright future for Pennsylvania," PA Chamber's Catalyst magazine, Winter 2013/14)