Posted: | March 19, 2014 11:36 AM |
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From: | Representative Duane D. Milne |
To: | All House members |
Subject: | Revise and Extend the Pennsylvania Industrial Development Authority (PIDA) |
In the near future, I will introduce legislation to merge the Small Business First (SBF), Community Economic Development Program (CED), Export Financing Program (EFP), Pollution Prevention Assistance Account Program (PPAA) and Machinery and Equipment Loan Fund (MELF) into the (already-existing) Pennsylvania Industrial Development Authority (PIDA). The purpose of this proposal is three-fold:
This legislation I am now putting forth is a reformulated version of my HB 1550, which had proposed to create a new entity to be known as the Pennsylvania Business Development Authority (PBDA). In consultation with my legislative colleagues and external stakeholders, a few adjustments have been made to this revised version of what is still intended to achieve the same end goals. Those changes are, namely, the programs to be consolidated will be merged into PIDA, rather than create a new entity, and no programs will be moved over from the Commonwealth Financing Authority (CFA). The governance structure of PIDA will not be altered by this legislation. In our state, Pennsylvania businesses deserve job creation programs that are customer-friendly, easy to access and target funding to meet the needs of the current economic climate. The ability of the Commonwealth to compete in our regional and global marketplaces needs to be expanded, and providing greater flexibility and efficiency in business financing programs is key to doing so. I invite your partnership of this critical pro-economic development, pro-jobs strategic growth initiative. Thank you. |
Introduced as HB1550