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.