State Budget Solution #4: Cut Corporate Welfare

Pa. Leads Nation in Wasteful Corporate Subsidies at $6 Billion Since 2007

February 1, 2017, Harrisburg, Pa.—This year state government will transfer more than $800 million from Pennsylvanians to billion-dollar corporations like Amazon, Netflix, and Kraft under the guise of “economic development.” These corporate handouts benefit special interests and their well-connected lobbyists, leaving taxpayers holding the bag.

“Pennsylvania leads the nation in corporate subsidies since 2007—and second place isn’t even close,” commented Bob Dick, senior policy analyst for the Commonwealth Foundation. “The commonwealth outspent its nearest competitor, Ohio, by more than $1.5 billion. This budget season, lawmakers and Gov. Wolf should commit to reducing, and even eliminating, these wasteful and unfair programs that benefit few at the expense of many.”

Click here for an online, embeddable version of the chart above.

“Despite spending billions on corporate subsidies, Pennsylvania ranked just 35th in job growth and 31st in personal income growth between 2005 and 2015,” continued Dick. “The payoff for taxpayers just isn’t there. In fact, the ten states spending the least on corporate welfare from 2007-2015 saw greater job growth than the ten states spending the most.

“As the governor and lawmakers look for ways to close the budget deficit without raising taxes, cutting corporate welfare should be at the top of their list.”

Note: Leading up to the state budget address, Commonwealth Foundation will highlight additional budget solutions.

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