KEYSTONE BUSINESS CLIMATE SURVEY March 2001
1.) Which of the following would you say is the most important issue facing business in Pennsylvania today?
30% HEALTH CARE
15% BUSINESS TAXES
22% WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
3% LAND USE
9% WORKERS’ COMPENSATION
4% ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS
13% LAWSUIT ABUSE
4% NO ANSWER
2.) Which of the following would you say is the second most important issue facing business in Pennsylvania today?
17% HEALTH CARE
18% BUSINESS TAXES
15% WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
3% LAND USE
16% WORKERS’ COMPENSATION
11% ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS
16% LAWSUIT ABUSE
3% NO ANSWER
3.) When it comes to state spending, which of the following approaches do you most closely favor?
40% ENOUGH MONEY IS ALREADY BEING SPENT, SO THERE SHOULD BE NO INCREASE IN STATE SPENDING DURING THE NEXT FISCAL YEAR.
44% THE RATE OF INCREASE IN STATE SPENDING SHOULD BE CONSISTENT WITH THE RATE OF INFLATION.
6% THERE ARE MANY UNMET NEEDS, SO STATE SPENDING SHOULD GROW FASTER THAN THE RATE OF INFLATION.
10% NONE OF THE ABOVE
4.) Generally speaking, do you APPROVE or DISAPPROVE of Governor Tom Ridge’s proposed 2001-2002 state budget priorities?
19% STRONGLY APPROVE
55% SOMEWHAT APPROVE
10% SOMEWHAT DISAPPROVE
2% STRONGLY DISAPPROVE
14% NO OPINION
5.) Thinking back over the past six years, has the Ridge Administration made excellent, good, fair, or poor progress in cutting business taxes?
13% EXCELLENT
48% GOOD
29% FAIR
7% POOR
3% NO OPINION
6.) Thinking back over the past six years, has the Ridge Administration made excellent, good, fair, or poor progress in cutting the regulatory burden on business?
5% EXCELLENT
35% GOOD
44% FAIR
15% POOR
1% NO OPINION
7.) If you were to assign a letter grade to the Ridge Administration for its stewardship of state government over the past six years, what grade would you give?
21% A
60% B
14% C
3% D
1% F
1% NO OPINION
8.) Do you FAVOR or OPPOSE removing barriers to allow federal funds to be made available to faith-based organizations which provide secular social services?
27% STRONGLY FAVOR
42% SOMEWHAT FAVOR
13% SOMEWHAT OPPOSE
8% STRONGLY OPPOSE
10% NO OPINION
9.) Do you SUPPORT or OPPOSE President Bush’s proposed tax cut plan?
68% STRONGLY SUPPORT
23% SOMEWHAT SUPPORT
5% SOMEWHAT OPPOSE
5% STRONGLY OPPOSE
0% NO OPINION
10.) Do you think President Bush’s proposed tax cut plan cuts taxes:
21% TOO MUCH
58% ABOUT THE RIGHT AMOUNT
19% NOT ENOUGH
2% NO OPINION
11.) Please rate each of the following potential candidates for Governor of Pennsylvania based upon how good they will be for business:
| GOOD | FAIR | POOR | NO OPIN | |
| Robert P. Casey, Jr. | 19% | 8% | 48% | 25% |
| Edward Rendell | 31% | 15% | 26% | 28% |
| D. Michael Fisher | 39% | 9% | 10% | 42% |
| Barbara Hafer | 32% | 18% | 19% | 31% |
| Jeffrey Piccola | 9% | 7% | 6% | 78% |
| Sam Katz | 17% | 8% | 12% | 63% |
| William Scranton III | 30% | 11% | 8% | 51% |
12.) do you think business conditions in Pennsylvania are BETTER, the SAME, or WORSE than they were six months ago?
21% BETTER
47% SAME
32% WORSE
0% NO OPINION
13.) Looking ahead six months, do you think business conditions will be BETTER, the SAME, or WORSE than they are now?
15% BETTER
56% SAME
27% WORSE
2% NO OPINION
14.) Are employment levels at your company HIGHER, the SAME, or LOWER than they were six months ago?
31% HIGHER
42% SAME
27% LOWER
0% NO OPINION
15.) Looking ahead six months, do you anticipate that employment levels at your company will be HIGHER, stay the SAME, or be LOWER?
30% HIGHER
50% SAME
19% LOWER
1% NO OPINION
16.) Have your company’s sales INCREASED, stayed relatively the SAME, or DECREASED during the past six months?
39% INCREASED
32% SAME
27% DECREASED
2% NO OPINION
17.) Do you expect your company’s sales to INCREASE, stay relatively the SAME, or DECREASE during the coming six months?
43% INCREASE
38% SAME
17% DECREASE
2% NO OPINION
18.) At any point in the past six months has your company considered moving all or part of its Pennsylvania operations to another state?
6% DID MOVE SOME OPERATIONS
13% CONSIDERED MOVING SOME OPERATIONS
3% CONSIDERED MOVING ALL OPERATIONS
2% MOVED OPERATIONS INTO PENNSYLVANIA
75% DIDN’T CONSIDER ANY MOVES
1% NO OPINION
19.) 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
15% MAY MOVE SOME OPERATIONS
77% NOT CONSIDERING ANY MOVES
2% MAY MOVE OPERATIONS INTO PENNSYLVANIA
3% NO OPINION
20.) In general, do you have a POSITIVE, NEGATIVE, or NO OPINION of the following individuals:
| POSITIVE | NEGATIVE | NO OPINION | |
| President George W. Bush | 87% | 6% | 7% |
| Alan Greenspan | 83% | 10% | 7% |
| U.S. Senator Arlen Specter | 42% | 46% | 12% |
| U.S. Senator Rick Santorum | 68% | 20% | 12% |
| Governor Tom Ridge | 87% | 6% | 7% |
21.) In general, do you have a POSITIVE, NEGATIVE, or NO OPINION of the following institutions:
| POSITIVE | NEGATIVE | NO OPINION | |
| United State Senate | 43% | 43% | 14% |
| U.S. House of Representatives | 48% | 38% | 14% |
| Pennsylvania Senate | 48% | 25% | 27% |
| PA House of Representatives | 47% | 27% | 2% |
Methodology
The Lincoln Institute’s Spring 2001 Keystone Business Climate Survey was mailed to a random sampling of corporations employing a minimum of 100 people in their Pennsylvania operations. The survey was mailed on February 26, 2001. As of the survey deadline of March 16th, a total of 195 responses has been received by the Lincoln Institute.
