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HARRISBURG, February 10, 2005 -
Responding to Gov. Ed Rendell’s budget address to the
General Assembly on Wednesday, state Sen. J. Barry Stout
pledged to build a legislative consensus on the fiscal
priorities for the Commonwealth.
“Attracting business and creating jobs for young people of
Pennsylvania is our top challenge,” said Stout. “I will
continue to collaborate with all of my legislative
colleagues on the state budget and our shared problems.”
Stout (D-Greene/Washington/Allegheny/Beaver/Westmoreland)
noted the Rendell budget’s continued emphasis on economic
development by cutting business taxes and improving
education and workforce training. “Businesses looking to
relocate want to see a highly trained workforce and a
competitive tax climate,” said Stout.
To meet the labor needs of the new global economy, the
Rendell administration is proposing “Job Ready
Pennsylvania,” which would invest $101 million in new state
funds for workforce development and job training. The budget
proposal would increase community college funding by $22.8
million. The state would also double state grants for
tutoring to include high school students and increase state
subsidies for public libraries by $1.5 million.
At its current rate of 9.99 percent, Pennsylvania’s
Corporate Net Income tax is the 3rd highest in the nation.
Following the recommendations of the Business Tax Reform
Commission, the budget proposes reducing the CNI tax by 20
percent to 7.99 percent, lower than rates in Ohio, West
Virginia, New Jersey, and Delaware.
As the Democratic Chairman of the Senate Transportation
Committee, Stout has been a champion for building the
state’s transportation infrastructure as an economic
stimulus strategy. Stout recommends a comprehensive
transportation plan that adequately funds mass transit,
highways and bridges, rail, and aviation.
“Transportation is an issue for all Pennsylvanians, whether
they take a bus to work, drive on a state highway to a
doctor’s appointment, take a school bus over one of our
bridges, or use our rail system to move their goods to
market,” said Stout. “I look forward to working with the
House and Senate Committee chairmen to create legislation
that satisfies everyone’s transportation needs.”
This year’s budget expenditures grew only 3.5 percent over
last year, which mostly replaces $378 million in lost
federal funding. As a comparison, the national inflation
rate for 2004 was 3.3 percent. The budget has no new taxes
and removes no individuals from the state’s growing Medicaid
enrollment, which now numbers 1.7 million.
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