Unfortunately, Democrats have insisted on a purportedly revenue-neutral reform package. It appears that the only way we can improve our business climate is by expanding the sales tax to cover some services and reducing it to 5.5%. In the current political climate, a compromise with Democrats seems to be the only way of promoting job growth. But such a compromise should also include key reforms like REDUCING the size of state government, encouraging consolidation of services, and rationalizing the benefits to state employees.