HARRISBURG -- House Republicans are seeking to speed and sweeten business cuts that Gov. Ed Rendell has said he wants.

Under a package of bills that they term the Keystone Manufacturing Initiative, Republican leaders in the state House called for phasing out one of the state's major business levies, the Capital Stock and Franchise Tax, by 2009, two years earlier than sought by Rendell.

GOP lawmakers also want to lower the other major state business levy, the Corporate Net Income Tax, to 5.99 percent from its current level of 9.99 percent, the third highest in the nation. Rendell has said he'd like to lower the tax rate to 7.99 percent, but Republican legislators claim that's not low enough for a tax that acts as a major disincentive for in-state companies to expand or out-of-state firms to open a branch here.

Another bill in the Keystone Manufacturing Initiative would scrap the current $2 million "cap" on how much of a company's financial losses can be carried forward from one year to the next. Companies can use the so-called carryforward provision to offset income in future profitable years, thus lowering their tax bill.

Since both houses are controlled by Republicans, Rep. Mike Turzai, R-Bradford Woods, is optimistic for the passage of some, if not all, of the initiative's bills. There is still the possibility, of course, that Democrat Rendell could veto measures he dislikes.

Along with a dozen GOP legislators, a number of state business executives and representatives, including U.S. Steel spokesman Chris Masciantonio, attended a rally yesterday at the Capitol to support the changes to make Pennsylvania more "business friendly."

While hundreds of thousands of manufacturing jobs have been lost in the state in the past 30 years, with the Pittsburgh region suffering among the worst losses, manufacturers are still a major factor in the state's economy, accounting for $64 billion a year in goods and services produced in Pennsylvania, he said.

Michael Koff, a spokesman for Sony Corp., which has 4,000 workers in Westmoreland County, said lowering the cost of business for companies would enable them to increase the number of "family-sustaining jobs."

The capital stock and franchise levy in particular has long been a sort spot with businesses, in large part because it has to be paid whether a business is profitable or not. The move to get rid of it is being led by Rep. Mark Mustio, R-Moon, who called it "particularly burdensome to job-creating firms."

The bill to lower the CNI would make a 1 percentage point reduction per year for each of four years, until it reaches 5.99 percent. Its sponsor, Rep. Dave Reed, R-Indiana, said the move "would put the state at a competitive advantage [in promoting business] by lowering our maximum rate below the national average."

Other bills in the Keystone package would:

Allow firms to create health savings accounts for workers. Workers would have to pay a higher deductible, lowering a company's insurance premium, but could deduct their health savings payments from their state taxes. Such accounts would give workers more interest in their health expenses, companies think.

Make it harder for a company to be sued for product liability. This measure would set a 15-year time limit (from the time of purchase) for suing a company over an allegedly defective product. Now, there is no time limit on bringing such suits.

Create a career development or job training tax credit for companies that want to improve the job skills of their current employees.

Lower a business' costs for compensation for workers who are hurt on the job and those who are laid off.

Republicans said southern states such as North Carolina and Georgia have much lower compensation costs than Pennsylvania and more favorable tax structures, which has caused Pennsylvania to lose thousands of manufacturing jobs in the past five years.