Fall 2002 Business Climate Survey
1. Do you feel the property tax-based system utilized by school districts, and local government in Pennsylvania is fair and equitable?
| 24% | YES |
| 68% | NO |
| 8% | DON’T KNOW/NO OPINION |
2. If local property taxes had to be replaced with another tax, would your favor a local earned income tax, a local sales tax, or a combination of earned income and sales taxes.
| 14% | LOCAL EARNED INCOME TAX |
| 38% | LOCAL SALES TAX |
| 44% | COMBINGATION OF BOTH |
| 4% | NO ANSWER |
3. The Pennsylvania General Assembly has convened a special session on property tax reform. Do you expect the special session will produce significant, structural changes in Pennsylvania’s property tax system, or do you view the session as political posturing?
| 9% | EXPECT SIGNIFICANT CHANGE |
| 79% | POLITICAL POSTURING |
| 12% | NO OPINION |
4. How important are property taxes when it comes to your making decisions about keeping or expanding your business in Pennsylvania?
| 34% | VERY IMPORTANT |
| 32% | SOMEWHAT IMPORTANT |
| 18% | SOMEWHAT UNIMPORTANT |
| 14% | NOT IMPORTANT |
| 2% | NO OPINION |
5. Generally speaking, is it your view that state government has paid its fair share of public school expenses, or has an unfair burden been placed on local taxpayers?
| 26% | FAIR SHARE |
| 59% | UNFAIR BURDEN |
| 15% | NO OPINION |
6. How seriously do you think the recent wave of corporate scandals has undermined public confidence in the business community?
| 39% | VERY SERIOUSLY UNDERMINED CONFIDENCE |
| 44% | SOMEWHAT SERIOUSLY UNDERMINED CONFIDENCE |
| 15% | NOT VERY SERIOUSLY UNDERMINED CONFIDENCE |
| 2% | NO EFFECT/NO OPINION |
7. How big of a factor do you think the recent wave of corporate scandals has been in contributing to the ongoing softness in the nation’s economy?
| 30% | BIG FACTOR |
| 42% | SOMEWHAT OF A FACTOR |
| 28% | NOT MUCH OF A FACTOR |
| 0% | NO OPINION |
8. Which issue to you think will have a bigger impact on upcoming Congressional races, the economy or the war on terrorism?
| 57% | ECONOMY |
| 14% | WAR ON TERRORISM |
| 26% | BOTH EQUALLY |
| 2% | NEITHER |
| 1% | NO OPINION |
9. When do you see the U.S. economy rebounding out of the current recession?
| 6% | 1-3 MONTHS |
| 10% | 3-6 MONTHS |
| 33% | 6-12 MONTHS |
| 40% | 12-24 MONTHS |
| 10% | NOT IN THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE |
10. Do you think the Federal Reserve Board’s recent monetary policies have helped to contain the current economic downturn, or contributed to it?
| 66% | HELPED CONTAIN |
| 14% | CONTRIBUTED TO |
| 16% | NO IMPACT |
| 4% | NO OPINION |
11. Which candidate for Governor do you think would do the best job for business in Pennsylvania, Republican Mike Fisher or Democrat Ed Rendell?
| 61% | MIKE FISHER |
| 20% | ED RENDELL |
| 8% | BOTH ABOUT THE SAME |
| 3% | NEITHER |
| 8% | NO OPINION |
12. Looking ahead to the November election, do you expect Republican Mike Fisher or Democrat Ed Rendell to be elected the next Governor of Pennsylvania?
| 26% | MIKE FISHER |
| 64% | ED RENDELL |
| 10% | NO OPINION |
13. Looking ahead to the November election, which political party do you expect will control the Pennsylvania State Senate, the Republican Party or the Democrat Party?
| 62% | REPUBLICAN |
| 16% | DEMOCRAT |
| 22% | NO OPINION |
14. Looking ahead to the November election, which political party do you expect will control the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, the Republican Party or the Democrat Party?
| 57% | REPUBLICAN |
| 22% | DEMOCRAT |
| 21% | NO OPINION |
15. Looking ahead to the November election, which political party do you expect will control the United State Senate, the Republican Party or the Democrat Party?
| 56% | REPUBLICAN |
| 29% | DEMOCRAT |
| 15% | NO OPINION |
16. Looking ahead to the November election, which political party do you expect will control the United States House of Representatives, the Republican Party or the Democrat Party?
| 72% | REPUBLICAN |
| 15% | DEMOCRAT |
| 13% | NO OPINION |
SECTION II
1. In general, do you think business conditions in Pennsylvania are better, the same, or worse than they were six months ago?
| 6% | BETTER |
| 44% | SAME |
| 49% | 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?
| 29% | BETTER |
| 53% | SAME |
| 17% | WORSE |
| 1% | NO OPINION |
3. Are employment levels at your company higher, the same, or lower than they were six months ago?
| 24% | HIGHER |
| 48% | SAME |
| 27% | 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?
| 26% | HIGHER |
| 55% | SAME |
| 17% | LOWER |
| 2% | NO OPINION |
5. Have your company’s sales increased, stayed relatively the same, or decreased during the past six months?
| 26% | INCREASED |
| 41% | SAME |
| 32% | DECREASED |
| 1% | NO OPINION |
6. Do you expect your company’s sales to increase, stay relatively the same, or decrease during the coming six months?
| 44% | INCREASE |
| 45% | SAME |
| 10% | DECREASE |
| 1% | 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?
| 3% | DID MOVE SOME OPERATIONS |
| 17% | CONSIDERED MOVING SOME OPERATIONS |
| 1% | CONSIDERED MOVING ALL OPERATIONS |
| 2% | MOVED OPERATIONS INTO PENNSYLVANIA |
| 74% | DIDN’T CONSIDER ANY MOVES |
| 3% | NO ANSWER |
8. Do you foresee at any point in the coming six months your company considering moving all or part of its Pennsylvania operations into another state?
| 0% | MAY MOVE ALL OPERATIONS |
| 19% | MAY MOVE SOME OPERATIONS |
| 79% | NOT CONSIDERING ANY MOVES |
| 0% | MAY MOVE INTO PA |
| 2% | NO ANSWER |
9. In general, do you have a positive, negative, or no opinion of the job performance of the following individuals:
| POSITIVE | NEGATIVE | NO OPINION | |
| President George Bush | 85% | 11% | 4% |
| Fed Chair Alan Greenspan | 82% | 10% | 8% |
| U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter | 30% | 48% | 22% |
| U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum | 59% | 22% | 19% |
| Gov. Mark Schweiker | 77% | 9% | 14% |
10. In general, do you have a positive, negative, or no opinion of the job performance of the following institutions:
| POSITIVE | NEGATIVE | NO OPINION | |
| U.S. Senate | 24% | 68% | 8% |
| U.S House of Reps | 50% | 41% | 9% |
| PA Senate | 39% | 34% | 27% |
| PA House of Reps | 40% | 34% | 26% |
METHODOLOGY:
