For growth, look beyond tax incentives
Massachusetts gubernatorial candidate Deval L. Patrick said he would take a dim view of using state tax incentives as a major tool for attracting business expansion in the state, saying companies whose plans turn on tax breaks probably aren't worth attracting.
In an appearance on the New England Cable News "This Week in Business" program being broadcast this afternoon, the Democratic nominee said he learned from past top executive positions at Texaco Inc. and
But in terms of what governors and legislatures should do to promote business, Patrick said, "This notion that it takes a tax break, a tax concession, to attract a business -- you want that in your box as a closer. But a business that makes a decision on the basis of a tax break alone, that's a business that's on its way out of business."
Patrick, 50, whose life has taken him from childhood in a Chicago ghetto to Harvard Law School , was a senior executive and general counsel at Texaco and Coca-Cola after serving as President Clinton's top civil rights prosecutor from 1994 to 1997 .
Asked what insights he got from his years at two of the world's biggest corporations, Patrick said the best role a governor can play for business leaders is "a problem-solving relationship. What businesses want, I think, is one place to go, one stop -- one person for that matter -- to help them."
Normally a strong critic of the administration of Governor Mitt Romney and Lieutenant Governor Kerry M. Healey , the GOP nominee, Patrick, speaking on NECN, praised their economic affairs secretary Ranch Kimball, who also serves as a Massachusetts Port Authority director.
"A lot of folks in biotech tell me that Ranch Kimball has, in effect, served that role for the industry, and good for the administration and good for that industry if that is the case. How do we make that more broadly available, and frankly, how do we make it more available for small and medium-sized businesses? Because that's where most jobs get created."
Patrick is the third of the four gubernatorial candidates to appear on the NECN show, cohosted by Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce president Paul Guzzi and NECN anchorman Mike Nikitas . Healey and independent candidate Christy Mihos appeared earlier this month. Green/Rainbow Party candidate Grace Ross will be on next Sunday.
Asked whether his praise of Kimball means he could be offered a position in a Patrick administration, the candidate laughed, "He might." But Patrick reiterated that "I want the best people and the best ideas, wherever they come from. I'm not interested in Democratic ideas or Republican ideas. I think there are two kinds of ideas, good ideas and bad ideas. I want to be open."
In one little-publicized plank of his campaign platform, Patrick says he backs offering statewide wireless Internet access, building on efforts already underway in Boston, Brookline, and other communities.
Pressed on how that would work and how many millions it would cost, Patrick said, "It's hard, frankly and candidly, to estimate the costs of it statewide because the technology is changing so fast." But he said in many parts of Massachusetts, especially Berkshire hill towns, "there are places where people are dying for telecommuting options."
Asked whether he envisions the state going into direct, publicly funded competition with private sector providers such as
Like Healey and Mihos, Patrick said a top probusiness priority is simplifying and accelerating state and local permit approvals .
But notably, Patrick said that could just as well mean hiring more regulators as slashing existing rules: "You either cut regulations or you staff up to keep up with the pace of business. I think both of those strategies have to be on the table."
In other NECN remarks, Patrick said:
"I will tell you that I have no plan -- none -- to raise the income tax" but he won't sign a pledge not to in case a "pressing need or crisis" requires raising state revenues.
Besides members of a campaign "business cabinet," chaired by Republican lawyer/powerbroker Gloria Cordes Larson , who heads the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority , other Bay State business leaders who are key advisers include Paul Sagan , the chief executive of Cambridge Internet company
On the issue of abolishing Massachusetts Turnpike tolls west of Route 128, "If we can do it, we should." But Patrick said he hasn't given the issue "anywhere near enough" study to determine if it is feasible and fears the toll abolition disclosed by Healey last week is "another hollow promise."
Peter J. Howe can be reached at howe@globe.com. 
