Florida Gov. Rick Scott is planning a trip to Philadelphia in February, and he’s hoping to lure some Pennsylvania businesses back south with him.
His pitch so far has focused on differences in the states’ existing business tax climates, as well as policies and business mandates from Pennsylvania Gov.-elect Tom Wolf that Scott said would be “heavy blows” to families in the Keystone State.
“I am leading a delegation to Philadelphia to send a message to all Pennsylvania job creators and families that we want you to keep more of the money you make because we understand it’s your money,” Scott said in a written statement announcing the visit.
Scott pointed to Pennsylvania’s flat 3.07 percent income tax and said Wolf “wants to raise it even higher.”
The incoming governor has proposed raising the income tax and creating an exemption for low-income residents.
Wolf, a Democratic businessman and former state revenue secretary, also has proposed instituting mandated sick leave for some employers, a point of concern within the business community. He also favors a severance tax on the natural gas industry, which currently pays a local impact fee put in place under outgoing Gov. Tom Corbett.
Jeffrey Sheridan, a spokesman for Wolf, said the severance tax would be used to bolster education funding, while the income tax overhaul is designed to make the system more fair. It would not be so burdensome that it would to force businesses to flee, he said.
Plus, Sheridan said, Wolf favors lowering the corporate net income tax and has successfully rebuilt his family business twice.
“He knows how to create jobs. He knows what the business community needs to create jobs,” Sheridan said.
David Taylor, executive director of the Pennsylvania Manufacturers’ Association, said it remains to be seen whether any businesses will answer the Florida governor’s call. At the same time, Taylor said, competition among states is “very real.”
“It’s very revealing,” Taylor said of Scott’s business development mission, “but the truth is that these forces are at play all the time, and this is exceptional only in that the governor of a competitor state would do something so publicly.”