The end to the so-called "death tax" could encourage mom-and-pop shops to continue to create jobs because they are not being punished with taxes during generational transitions, Bloom said.

"This has forced many families to sell off essential business resources just to pay the tax, and it forces some families to leave the business altogether," he said in a statement. "This is an unnecessary loss to our economy and our next generation of job creators."

House Bill 48 has more than 60 bipartisan co-sponsors and has been referred to the House Finance Committee for consideration.

Bloom introduced the legislation last session in response to Gov. Tom Corbett's Manufacturing Advisory Council recommendations for encouraging job growth in the commonwealth's manufacturing sector.

The Carlisle-area lawmaker, who is in his second term, said he remains supportive of legislation that seeks to more broadly reduce or eliminate Pennsylvania's inheritance tax.

The commonwealth collected $390.5 million in inheritance tax through December. That is $23.3 million, or 5.6 percent, below the 2012-13 budget projection, according to the Department of Revenue.

Bloom said he had the department analyze the potential impact of his legislation. He said exempting family businesses from the tax would create a loss of $9.9 million in 2013-14, the next budget year.

From there, it would cost about $11.3 million in 2014-15 and $12.3 million in 2015-16, Bloom said.

"I believe by keeping these business assets productively deployed, it will actually generate more revenue for the commonwealth through personal income tax, sales tax and other tax-generating business activities that are now able to continue because business has not closed down or become marginalized," he said.