Dates

• Existence: 1991 - 1992

biographical statement

On March 19, 1991, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives adopted House Resolution 27, which was sponsored by Representative Tom Murphy and three additional Allegheny County legislators. The Resolution provided for the formation of a select committee to investigate the Commonwealth’s non-profit Industrial Development Corporations (IDC). The IDCs had traditionally been the state’s strongest response to areas of high unemployment, as they created a large amount of jobs. Their mission was to attract industry to economically distressed areas within Pennsylvania. However, during the last half of 1990, these companies had begun to move out of cities such as Pittsburgh and into the suburbs of Allegheny County, where they were able to buy less expensive land. These moves came at the expense of thousands of jobs and a loss of taxable income for Pennsylvania’s urban areas. The corporations were moving into wealthier areas around the state which already had a low unemployment rate. This defeated the original purpose of the organizations, which was to alleviate high unemployment within the Commonwealth’s urban cores. In addition to this, the corporations were receiving public funds to facilitate their moves to new areas.

On April 26, 1992, representatives Tom Murphy (chairman), Richard Cessar, David Levdansky, James Merry, Christopher McNally, Jess Stairs, and Thomas Michlovic were appointed to serve on the select committee. Their investigation looked at whether or not it was wise to allow IDC’s to move into more affluent sections of Pennsylvania at the expense of the state’s urban areas, and they made recommendations on ways to share the wealth so that all areas of the state could grow and prosper. The final report was submitted to the General Assembly on November 24, 1992. Recommendations included making IDCs part of a cooperative regional plan, working with both public and private economic development entities to create a regional development plan and creating a board of directors which would reflect the whole community – including women and minorities. They also advised that all IDC financial statements, board memberships, and property inventories should be filed each year with the Department of Commerce and be audited by their county every five years. Generally, the committee members realized that the IDC program needed to be re-focused and new standards of cooperation were needed in order to maximize their effectiveness and benefit the highest number of Pennsylvania residents.

House Resolution 194

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