Please take a few minutes to complete this survey. It is important that we are aware of your concerns when we are called upon to assist the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry and the US Chamber of Commerce. As we are planning our meetings with legislators and developing questions for a Q&A series that will be published in The Daily News we want to make sure we are aware of the issues that are most important to you. Please help us help you. Please complete the survey by September 10.

Please complete the questions you’d like to share your opinion on. For a further explanation of the question, please refer to the subsequent questions.

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* 1. Business Type (select most appropriate)

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* 2. Please select the importance of the following issues.

  Very Important Somewhat Important Not Important No Opinion Oppose Position
Business Tax Reforms & Reductions (Reducing taxes to make PA more business friendly.)
Economic Development (Fostering programs and incentives that meet businesses’ needs. ie. low interest loans, tax abatement)
Education (Provide every child with a quality education and establish a clear accountability system.)
Energy Laws & Regulations (Enable businesses to secure a reliable supply of energy at a reasonable price.)
Environmental Laws & Regulations Reform (Minimize regulations that place requirements on businesses.)
Healthcare Reform (Affordable Care Act.)
Job Creation 
Labor Laws (Establishing laws that benefit employers.)
Legal System Reform (Establishing reforms to protect employers and reduce costs.)
Transportation (Modern, safe and efficient system.)
Workforce Development (Developing the workforce to meet the needs of employers.)
Housing/Blight (Renovating/Removing blighted properties and stimulating
the production of new market-rate housing to enhance the region’s competitiveness.)
Infrastructure (Broadband & telecommunications access.)

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* 3. Please note which three issues from question #2 are most important to you.

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* 4. Labor Laws

  Very Important Somewhat Important Not Important No Opinion Oppose Position
Paycheck Protection (Prohibiting using taxpayer funded resources for collecting political donations or dues on behalf of public sector unions.)
Prevailing Wage (Driving costs up by mandating that workers on public construction projects costing over $25,000 be paid the local “prevailing wage wage.”)
Right to Work (Give workers the freedom to choose whether or not to join a union by making employment no longer conditional upon union membership or paying union dues.)
Card Check (Eliminate the right of the public sector workers in PA to vote by private ballot during a union certification process.) 
Mandatory Leave Laws (Uniform state mandated leave policy for businesses instead of various policies enacted by local municipalities.)
Worker’s Compensation Costs
Unemployment Compensation (Fair tax rating system based on employer's past experience, fraud prevention and enforcement of work search requirements.)
Government Mandated Wage Increases (Impose government mandated wage increases, such as increasing the minimum wage.)
Overtime Law (More than doubling the wage threshold for exempt status, and significant revisions to the duties test that determines if an employee is exempt from overtime pay.)

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* 5. Legal System Reform

  Very Important Somewhat Important Not Important No Opinion Oppose Position
Certificate of Merit (Require that a signed statement from another industry professional substantiating that the complaint’s subject fell outside acceptable professional standards be included with the complaint.)
Protect Innocent Sellers (Not include sellers in a lawsuit, with manufacturers, for defective products they sell.)
Statute of Repose (Establishing a time limit for lawsuits for most products.)
Venue Reform (Hearings stay in county where act was committed.)

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* 6. Business Tax Reforms & Reductions

  Very Important Somewhat Important Not Important No Opinion Oppose Position
Reducing the Corporate Net Income Tax (Reducing the rate from the current 9.99%, the highest effective rate in the country.)
Industry Specific Tax Increases (Increase taxes imposed on specific types of businesses. Current efforts to increase those on the natural gas industry.)
Mandatory Unitary Combined Reporting (Not impose taxes on employers for operations outside of PA.)
Eliminate Caps on Net Operating Loss Carryforwards (start-up businesses tend to have significant costs leading to losses their first year. This would allow them to carry over the entire amount of their loss to subsequent tax years to reduce their tax burden.)
Property Tax Reform (Eliminate school property taxes by increasing and expanding sales tax and the personal income tax by 17-65%)

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* 7. Please indicate your support of the following.

  Support Oppose Not Important No Opinion
Privatization of Liquor Stores (End government ownership of liquor stores.)
Public Pension Reform (Address the high cost of pensions. PA’s pension deficit is estimated to be $74 billion.)
Municipal Consolidation & Cooperation  (State programs that encourage and promote municipalities to come together when consolidation and or cooperation can benefit the residents they represent.) 

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* 8. Please briefly provide your thoughts on how the costs of healthcare are affecting you and your business.

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* 9. Please take this opportunity to list other issues of concern or comments you have.

Thank you for taking the time to help us help you.

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