Pennsylvania has submitted 1,000 stimulus reports to feds

Since October, Pennsylvania has submitted 1,000 stimulus reports to the federal government and has been a leader among state governments in reporting data about its $12 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds, Government Technology reports.

An interview with state Secretary of Administration Naomi Wyatt reveals that software for procurement, financials and budget, provided by SAP since 2002, has helped the state submit reports. The software provider’s BusinessObjects suite also has aided in more substantial and detailed reporting, which delves deep into the state’s 19 agencies and 3,500 vendors, grantees and subgrantees.

Be sure to read the entire interview with Wyatt over at GovTech.

Researcher Paul J. Mathison explains governor’s proposal to tax computer professionals

We couldn’t quite believe it when Paul J. Mathison, founder of research firm pjmathison, told us that the Governor was planning to begin taxing computer service professionals for their work.

We understood the reasoning; the budget shortfall statewide, like here in Philadelphia, has called for drastic measures. But what surprised us most was that we hadn’t heard a thing about it.

Included in the Governor’s fiscal year 2011 budget is a proposal to drop the state sales tax from 6 to 4 percent while broadening the tax base to include other professionals currently exempt. Like computer service professionals.

And while we’ve seen coverage of the issue, after the fact, in Pittsburgh, and according to Mathison, a growing interest from technology stakeholders across the state, little has been done here in Philadelphia.

After the jump, we ask Mathison for the details on the proposed tax hike and what technology groups can do to fight it.

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Down with Pennsylvania’s tech tax!

In an informal partnership with Philadelphia magazine‘s new Philly Post daily news blog, Technically Philly will be offering our insight on Philadelphia technology to a broader audience of tech-interested individuals every Tuesday. As is true of so much of our effort, this is yet another opportunity to voice the triumphs and concerns of the community to a broader audience in the city and beyond.

Pennsylvania lawmakers sounded a warning bell last week, predicting a $1 billion deficit if taxes aren’t increased or significant spending cuts executed. And for the first time in close to two decades, computer services professionals are being looked to to help bridge the gap.

Governor Rendell’s proposed 2011 budget includes plans to broaden the tax base to 74 goods and services not currently taxable under the state sales tax, including computing and information technology work.

Call it history repeating itself.

In 1991, with an expected hole in the budget, Governor Casey looked to extend the sales tax to additional professional services, including computer services. Paul J. Mathison, who has analyzed state budgets and their impact on technology for close to two decades, remembers it well.

Read more at Philadelphia magazine’s Philly Post.

$2.1 billion in state technology spending at an all-time high, boosted by stimulus

Current state technology investments are budgeted at an all-time high, due in part to federal economic stimulus dollars and an increased interest in government technology that promises reduced costs and improved services in Pennsylvania.

According to a report from market research and professional services firm pjmathison, which assists clients with procurement, grants and loans, state government technology-related spending is estimated to exceed $2.1 billion this year.

The firm’s founder, Paul J. Mathison, whose background has been in both technology and government relations, has led the preparation of the company’s state technology forecasts for 10 years.

Mathison says that as federal economic stimulus money is awarded and depleted, the state will face a technology shortfall in future fiscal years. “That money is going to be drying up after this year and beneficiaries and recipients of that federal stimulus money are going to be scratching their heads,” he said in an interview with Technically Philly on Tuesday.

But the firm predicts that the state will continue investing in technology as the economy turns around and as tax revenues readjust.

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Are the Mayor’s technology firm tax incentives not enough?

It’s been a few weeks now since Mayor Michael Nutter announced a tax incentive pilot for technology firms aimed at decreasing sales tax for service-based tech companies and, ultimately, attracting more businesses to Philadelphia.

For as much as we’ve heard support for the decision to eliminate taxes on sales outside of Philadelphia, there’s been criticism from local entrepreneurs that maybe the tax pilot isn’t much of an incentive at all, but it will help retain companies that are already here, some say.

Damon Alberts, whom with the Videogame Growth Initiative has helped lobby city and state government officials for the last year to create more opportunities for small video game studios in the city, praised the decision but said more work needed to be done. It’s by no means an end result, but a “step in the right direction,” he says.

“I wouldn’t call it an incentive, because really they’re removing a barrier. Now I don’t have to pay a tax that I shouldn’t have to pay anyway,” he told Technically Philly in a telephone interview in early March. Alberts was gearing up for a trip to Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, a popular annual gathering for the industry.

“It’s a step in the right direction because video game firms are on the Mayor’s radar,” he says.

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State makes moves after NTIA awards $2.2 million for broadband maps, plans

Rendell was quite prepared for $2.2 million in federal broadband research and planning funds that we reported Thursday.

A spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development tells Technically Philly that the state is already in negotiations with a yet undisclosed vendor to handle the job.

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Pennsylvania receives $2.2 million for broadband data collection

A $2.2 million federal grant for broadband data and mapping in Pennsylvania will help the state's broadband vision, outlined in a report here by the Rendell Administration (PDF).

A federal grant will fund research into the digital divide and ways to solve it in Pennsylvania.

The National Telecommunication and Information Administration announced Tuesday that Pennsylvania has been awarded a two-year, $1.7 million grant to collection data about broadband adoption, MuniWireless reports. An additional $500,000 will be used for planning a broadband strategy in the state, bringing the total award to $2.2 million.

A spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, which will handle the funds, was not immediately available for comment.

The NTIA has awarded $97 million to 51 grantees so far and will likely wrap up the remaining grants this quarter. The grants -which will be awarded to each state, the District of Columbia and five territories – are a part of the Obama administration’s strategy to improve broadband adoption in the U.S.

More than $300 million was set aside in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to collect data to better assist the NTIA in distributing $7.2 billion to improve broadband infrastructure, create public computers centers and promote sustainable broadband adoption.

The City of Philadelphia requested $35 million in the NTIA’s first round of broadband investment, as we reported in September. The NTIA has not yet announced which projects will receive funding.

How to open a business in the City of Philadelphia, or 15 reasons people move to the suburbs

So you want to open a business in Philadelphia?

A Technically Philly reader recently launched her first venture in the city’s limits and thought the process was agonizing enough and the help non-existent enough to share.

She’s fairly straight-laced, she tells us, so she wanted to open her operation as legitimately and legally as possible. Yes, a good tax-paying business opening up shop in Philadelphia, so I’m sure we all expect the red-carpet treatment from the city.

Except, of course, as you know, the process was laborious and involved so many wrong turns, that we decided to give you all a short hand.

Below, in addition to the 15 steps and more than two months this passionate entrepreneur took to give money to the city, we show you the right way to launch your business in Philadelphia in five (oh my God, we know it won’t actually be easy) steps.

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Will Free Library technology get dumped?

More than 800 computer terminals, 167 printers and 54 fiber broadband connections, which account for 1.3 million annual computer reservations at the Free Library of Philadelphia, could soon be covered in dust.

Red signs threatening the Oct. 2 closure of the regional library system were hard to spot as patrons checked email, printed documents and watched YouTube videos in a computer lab in the east wing of the historic Central Library on Vine Street Tuesday afternoon.

As the city awaits legislators in Harrisburg to pass House Bill 1828 – which would allow the city to increase local sales tax and defer pension contributions – threats of severe city-wide budget cuts in Mayor Michael Nutter’s “Plan C” doomsday budget are more real than ever; they’re printed on placards throughout 54 Free Library branches in the city.

City services could see $700 million in cuts, including Philadelphia’s library system, which faces a $29.6 million reduction and the loss of 490 positions.

Free Library Chief Technology Officer and executive staff member Jim Pecora says that a closure could severely affect patrons who need Internet access.

“This city and state budget situation will throw us back to the stone-ages if SB 1828 isn’t passed,” he said in a candid e-mail to Technically Philly.

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The birth of Philadelphia’s video game scene

THE SUITORS: (L-R) Damon Alberts, Mike Worth and Hardik Bhatt of the Videogame Growth Initiative are trying to talk officials into making Philly worth game developers' while. (Credit: Mark Stehle)

Note: this article appeared in today’s Citypaper and has been republished with permission.

The members of the Videogame Growth Initiative Philadelphia (VGI) are buzzing around a seventh-floor conference room high above Broad Street. The group has two hours to convince representatives of state government that it’s worth creating new incentives to lure video game companies to Philly.

Audio engineer Mike Worth along with local video game executive Damon Alberts, Drexel professor Frank Lee, lawyer Dennis Manning and developer Hardik Bhatt, churn through slides, charts, spreadsheets and game screenshots at a rapid-fire rate as representatives from state government and city economic groups look on.

At first, the guests’ gazes are empty, and energy level low. But the high-octane presentation soon has them interested.

“There’s no reason Philadelphia can’t be the Hollywood for video games,” Bhatt says.
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