I will start this post with my qualifications for actually commenting on this issue.  I am a self employed businessman for the past 15 years.  I have worked for that time in conjunction with my father in the excavation business, so I would say that I'm fairly familiar with the regulations and requirements placed on 'small business'.  At the same time, for the past 8 years to the present I have served as an elected official on the Jonestown Borough Council, the past 4 years and counting as president, so I also familiar with a number of the government requirements regarding companies that wish to perform work for that entity. ( I assure you that I as well as a number of my fellow board members were extremely put out  having to pay prevailing wages for Jonestown's new building.)

 

   I also have some serious disagreements with Governor Ed Rendell regarding the direction the Commonwealth must take to improve economic development. 

 

   In my opinion the single greatest option to spur economic growth in Pennsylvania is to reduce taxes.  Reducing taxes are a PROVEN method of increasing economic growth. At the same time I feel it is also important to reduce some of the regulatory burdens placed on businesses by the state.  You simply don't encourage growth by charging a company $45,000 in regulations and then telling them to 'make it up'.  All regulatory costs eventually make it to the tax payer.

 

   It is also IMPERATIVE that the governor stop promoting requests to loan money to pay for issues that he feels are important right now.  Reality says that these issues will be taken care of WITHOUT loaning money.  Governor Rendell needs to realize that some issues will NOT be taken care of by the end of his term, and there are also some issues that shouldn't have even been brought up during his tenure.  The tax payers of the commonwealth have a limited amount of money to 'give' the state, period.