FALL 2000 KEYSTONE BUSINESS CLIMATE SURVEY SURVEY QUESTIONS

September 2000

SECTION I:

1.) Pennsylvania’s state government has been collecting substantially more money in taxes over the past few years than it has been spending.  Which of the following options most closely reflects what should be done with that surplus?

20% – DEBT REPAYMENT SHOULD BE INCREASED
33% – PERSONAL INCOME TAXES SHOULD BE CUT
30% – BUSINESS TAXES SHOULD BE CUT
3%   – STATE GOVERNMENT SHOULD INCREASE SPENDING
14% – MORE MONEY SHOULD BE GIVEN TO SCHOOL DISTRICTS SO THEY CAN LOWER PROPERTY TAXES

2.) Given the fact Pennsylvania state government has a substantial budget surplus, is additional spending of tax money all right with you, or should spending be kept to a minimum and the surplus returned to taxpayers?

76% – RETURN MONEY TO TAXPAYERS
8%   – MORE SPENDING IS ALL RIGHT
15% – NEITHER
1%   – DON’T KNOW

3.) Do you FAVOR or OPPOSE enactment of a Right to Work law, whereby a worker cannot be fired for either joining or not joining a labor union?

57% – STRONGLY FAVOR
12% – SOMEWHAT FAVOR
8%   – SOMEWHAT OPPOSE
14% – STRONGLY OPPOSE
9%   – DON’T KNOW

4.) Should unions be forbidden from deducting money from union workers’ pay without their permission, then using that money for political purposes?

93% – YES
5%   – NO
2%   – DON’T KNOW

5.) Do you think it is appropriate for medical doctors to form and join a labor union?

14% – YES
72% – NO
14% – DON’T KNOW

6.) Do you support the creation of Medical Savings Accounts to allow individuals to save money tax free for expenditure on medical costs?

84% – YES
9%   – NO
7%   – DON’T KNOW

7.) Currently, out-of-state purchases made over the Internet are not taxed. Do you AGREE or DISAGREE that Pennsylvania should begin collecting a 6% sales tax on out-of-state Internet purchases?

27% – STRONGLY AGREE
10% – SOMEWHAT AGREE
18% – SOMEWHAT DISAGREE
40% – STRONGLY DISAGREE
5%   – NO OPINION

8.) Do you AGREE or DISAGREE with the statement that:  The growth of electronic commerce and the Internet is too important to burden with taxation and additional government regulation?

37% – STRONGLY AGREE
26% – SOMEWHAT AGREE
20% – SOMEWHAT DISAGREE
11% – STRONGLY DISAGREE
6%   – NO OPINION

9.) Bell Atlantic, now known as Verizon, has petitioned the Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission for permission to compete in the long distance business,  Do you FAVOR or OPPOSE Verizon (Bell Atlantic) offering long distance service?

51% – STRONGLY FAVOR
28% – SOMEWHAT FAVOR
6%   – SOMEWHAT OPPOSE
2%   – SOMEWHAT OPPOSE
13% – NO OPINION

10.) If the election for President of the United States were held today, would you vote for Republican George W. Bush, Democrat Al Gore, Reform Party candidate Patrick Buchanan or Green Party Nominee Ralph Nader?

83% – BUSH
14% – GORE
1%   – BUCHANAN
2%   – NADER

SECTION II

1.) In general, do you think business conditions in Pennsylvania are better, the same or worse than they were six months ago?

23% – BETTER
59% – SAME
17% – WORSE
1%   – NO OPINION

2.) Looking ahead six months, do you think business conditions will be better, the same or worse than they are now?

13% – BETTER
60% – SAME
24% – WORSE
3%   –  NO OPINION

3.) Are employment levels at your company higher, the same, or lower than they were six months ago?

48% – HIGHER
33% – SAME
18% – LOWER
1%   – NO OPINION

4.) Looking ahead six months, do you anticipate that employment levels at your company will be higher, stay the same, or be lower?

42% – HIGHER
43% – SAME
15% – LOWER
0%   – NO OPINION

5.) Have your company’s sales increased, stayed relatively the same, or decreased during the past six months?

52% – INCREASED
31% – SAME
17% – DECREASED
0%   – NO OPINION

6.) Do you expect your company’s sales to increase, stay relatively the same or decrease during the coming six months?

47% – INCREASE
40% – SAME
10% – DECREASE
3%   – NO OPINION

7.) At any point in the past six months has your company considered moving all or part of its Pennsylvania operations to another state?

4%   – DID MOVE SOME OPERATIONS
19% – CONSIDERED MOVING SOME OPERATIONS
4%   – CONSIDERED MOVING ALL OPERATIONS
-%   – MOVED OPERATIONS INTO PENNSYLVANIA
73% – DIDN’T CONSIDER ANY MOVES

8.) Do you foresee at any point in the coming six months your company considering moving all or part of its Pennsylvania operations to another state?

3%   –  MAY MOVE ALL OPERATIONS
20% – MAY MOVE SOME OPERATIONS
77% – NOT CONSIDERING ANY MOVES

9.) In general, do you have a positive, negative, or no opinion of the job performance of the following individuals:

10.) In general, do you have a positive, negative, or no opinion of the job performances of the following institutions?

The Lincoln Institute’s semi-annual Keystone Business Climate Survey was mailed to the Chief Executive Officers of businesses that employ over 100 people in Pennsylvania.  As of the survey response deadline of September, 29, 2000, 223 responses were received.