By KARA BROOKS
Office of Governor Mike Pence

In a letter sent today to Speaker John Boehner and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Governor Mike Pence encourages Congress to take on reforming the corporate tax code and repealing the medical device tax.

In 2014, Governor Pence signed into law legislation that will reduce Indiana’s state corporate tax rate to 4.9 percent by 2022, making Indiana’s corporate tax rate one of the lowest in the nation. And thanks to pro-growth and pro-business policies enacted in recent years, Indiana led the nation in manufacturing job growth in 2014 and ranked sixth in the nation last November for largest growth rate in private sector jobs.

In his letter, the Governor explains, “Our economic success and ability to grow jobs, however, is significantly impacted by policies at the federal level. Indiana cannot compete for investments with other states if companies will not even consider locating in any of our United States due to the federal corporate tax rate. Reducing the corporate tax rate will allow states to compete more effectively on the world stage and encourage the kind of job growth we hope to see for all Americans.”

In a state that ranks second in the nation in exports of life sciences products at a value of more than $9.7 billion, Governor Pence has worked tirelessly for the repeal of the medical device tax.

“Medical device entrepreneurs should be allowed to innovate and grow without facing an industry specific tax,” writes the Governor. “Repeal of the medical device tax will let these companies expand and grow jobs in Indiana and across the country. It is the right thing to do, and I hope the Congress will be able to move forward with repeal legislation early this year.”

The life sciences industry provides a $55 billion impact to Indiana’s economy. Life sciences companies employ more than 55,000 Hoosiers, with 20,000 of them in medical device-related jobs. Between 2002 and 2009, Indiana added 5,600 medical device sector jobs. In addition, medical device companies pay 56 percent more than the average wage in Indiana, and 53 percent of jobs in the medical device industry do not require a college degree.

The Governor’s letter in full can be found attached here.