Leadership that’s Working for Us

Pat Browne has developed a successful track record of writing and supporting laws that have made a positive impact in today’s challenging and competitive market.

Another area where Pat’s private sector experience and education have made him a trusted resource and sought-after sounding board for his colleagues is in financial and tax issues. That is why it made perfect sense that not long after being elected to the Senate, Pat was named chair of the Senate Finance Committee. The Finance Committee’s primary task is to review legislation affecting Pennsylvania’s tax codes.

Pat believes that keeping state spending and taxes low and under control promotes an economic climate where businesses will invest and create opportunities for hard-working Pennsylvanians. His belief is that a good and growing economy comes not from increased government spending, taxes and regulations, but by giving businesses the freedom and the tools to expand and create new jobs. This mindset has been the driving force behind some of Pat’s most important legislative accomplishments.

• Pat authored legislation that provided one of the largest tax cuts for seniors, working families and small business people in the history of Pennsylvania. Since its adoption in 1995, it has saved Pennsylvania families and employers over $5 billion in state taxes.
• Pat wrote the law that enacted the tax cuts key to then-Governor Tom Ridge’s plan to radically improve Pennsylvania’s economy and provide for a fairer tax system for our citizens. Important provisions of this law included:
  • Reduction in Pennsylvania’s highest-in-the-nation Corporate Net Income Tax.
  • Phase out of the job killing Capital Stock and Franchise Tax – a tax that stripped capital away from employers even if they lost money.
  • Elimination of the inheritance tax on transfers of assets between spouses.
  • Elimination of the tax on retirement annuities.
  • Expansion of the Personal Income Tax Forgiveness program to thousands of additional families and senior citizens.

• Senator Browne sponsored the “Pennsylvania Job Creation Act of 2006,” which initiated important tax cuts/changes to make Pennsylvania’s climate for job creators more competitive. This legislation:

1. Eliminates business taxes on the investment of new jobs, real estate and equipment in Pennsylvania.
2. Expands the use of business losses to offset future income earned by Pennsylvania business. This is crucial to allow our job creators to weather a recession as well as to promote the creation and expansion of new high tech, bio tech startup businesses in the Commonwealth.

• Pat was a strong supporter of and worked diligently to help craft and pass a major investment of $2.4 billion in transportation projects to fix Pennsylvania’s existing yet deteriorating roadways and bridges and invest in new roadways to meet the state’s ever-growing need for vehicle capacity. Pat’s advocacy for infrastructure improvements, especially for the Lehigh Valley, led directly to the funding necessary to complete the widening Route 22 and other overburdened roadways and bridges throughout the Lehigh Valley.
• Pat authored the expansion of the “Employment Incentive Payment Credit” (EIPC) to provide employers with tax credits for employing Pennsylvania citizens with mental and physical disabilities.

• Pat wrote the “Small Business Jobs Investment Act,” which allowed for greater access to private capital by small business corporations. It also eliminated Pennsylvania’s infamous capital stock tax from single owner Limited Liability Companies and Professional Service Corporations.
• A strong supporter of alternative energy development, Pat wrote legislation which advanced tax credits for business investment in alternative energy technologies.

• Pat wrote the “School Property Tax Rebate Act,” which was the first state-sponsored property tax reduction in Pennsylvania history.

• Pat wrote the “Tax Uniform Procedures Act,” which creates a tax system with compliance that is fairer and easier for both individuals and businesses. This was the first major reform of the appeals and audit section of the Tax Reform Code in 30 years.

• Pat authored the expansion of the “Employment Incentive Payment Credit” (EIPC) to provide employers with tax credits for employing Pennsylvania citizens with mental and physical disabilities.

• Pat sponsored reforms to the $52 Emergency Municipal Services Tax to provide relief for workers while ensuring that taxing entities use the revenues in a fiscally-responsible manner.
• Pat authored the “Pennsylvania Institutions of Purely Public Charity Act”, which established the first ever comprehensive criteria for determining exemptions from real property and sales taxes by Pennsylvania State-related universities, hospitals, private universities, nursing homes and other charities. It also established criteria to ensure that unfair competition by charities with private for-profit businesses is mitigated.