Study: Pa. should skip tax breaks for tech firms

PITTSBURGH (AP) — A study says Pennsylvania should think twice about using tax breaks to lure high-tech companies and instead focus on helping current employers.

The conclusions come from examining where Pennsylvania’s high-tech jobs have come from since 1990 and comparisons with six other eastern states, including New York and Ohio.

The study advises against getting into an economic war among states, saying movement of high-tech jobs between states is negligible. The bigger problem is jobs moving overseas.

The study by Good Jobs First, Washington-based economic development watchdog group, is being released today. The Harrisburg-based Keystone Research Center, which is affiliated with organized labor, advised on the study and The Heinz Endowments funded the study.