Finally, there is a growing consensus in the Pennsylvania General Assembly that corporations doing business in this state ought to pay taxes here as well.

For years, companies have avoided paying corporate taxes in the commonwealth by simply establishing a mailbox in Delaware.

At last accounting, roughly 71 percent of the companies doing busines in the state were using the "Delaware Loophole" to avoid paying state taxes.

But the state Legislature is now working to close the loophole by tying it to a lower Corporate Net Income tax.

And the proposal, offered by state Reps. David Reed, R-Indiana, and Eugene DePasquale, D-York, has bipartisan support. House Majority Leader Mike Turzai, a Republican, indicated that the proposal could become part of Gov. Tom Corbett's budget package this year.

House Bill 2150 would use tax revenues generated by the closing of the loophole to cut the CNI from 9.9 percent to 6.9 percent over seven years.

That would certainly help small businesses that have paid the higher tab over the years. It would level a playing field that for too long has been tilted to allow megacorporations to avoid paying their fair share.

Former Gov. Ed Rendell was thwarted in his attempts to change the law, and some state lawmakers even took to praising Delaware for establishing a business-friendly climate.

While other states acted to close the loophole, Pennsylvania failed to act.

State Rep. Mike Sturla, D-Lancaster, who is a co-sponsor of the bill, said that even though he does not believe the legislation will generate the kind of revenue some envision, he sees the legislation as a step forward. Tacit support for the bill, he said, suggests that Republicans now believe that some businesses are not paying their fair share.

The plan outlined in the measure would cut business taxes by $1 billion over 10 years and offset that amount by increasing the corporate net income tax revenues by imposing the tax on companies using out-of-state holding companies.

Corporations that move money to other states would have to pay a tax on that amount.

The real test is how the state business community views the legislation.

The Pennsylvania Chamber of Business & Industry is reviewing the new bill. Although the chamber opposed the Rendell proposal, which called for mandatory unified combined reporting, it has previously supported measures designed to end tax-avoidance abuses.

The Delaware loophole has long placed small companies in the state at a disadvantage. This legislation will ensure that all businesses play by the same set of rules.