Dush, Common Sense Caucus Score Major Victories for Taxpayers
HARRISBURG – Rep. Cris Dush (R-Jefferson/Indiana) and other members of the Common Sense Caucus (CSC), a group of 18 rank-and-file Republican members from the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, are applauding two major victories in their ongoing fight to hold the line against tax increases and control state government spending.
On Thursday, May 17, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) issued an order requiring 17 major electric, natural gas, and water and wastewater utilities to return $320 million per year to consumers.
“On March 22, myself and 14 other House members, several of them Common Sense Caucus members,
sent a letter to the Public Utility Commission inquiring as to why the PUC had not yet lowered utility rates when 39 other states had already done so in response to the Trump Tax cuts,” confirmed Dush.
The letter stated, in part:
“These states recognized the fact, the significantly reduced tax liability (for) energy companies meant these companies no longer need to charge the same energy rates to meet their current costs. It is a well-known fact, like any other company, energy companies often resort to increased costs, fees or taxes by passing the increase onto consumers.
“Now that corporate tax rates have dropped from 35 percent to 21 percent, this reduction in costs should also be passed onto the consumer. Therefore, we are asking you and the commissioners to begin working on reducing the energy rates Pennsylvanians are paying by a fair and reasonable amount.”
The refunds are a direct result of the significant decrease in federal corporate tax rates and other tax changes under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act signed into law by President Donald Trump last year, which lowered the tax liability for many utility companies.
This victory follows another successful effort led by Dush and the Common Sense Caucus to convince Pennsylvania Auditor General Eugene DePasquale to audit an offline “special” state funding account.
“Last summer, myself and other Common Sense Caucus members spent several weeks poring through more than 200 hidden fund accounts and delivered alternatives to pay for last year’s state budget without raising taxes,” said Dush. “Though the governor and others in government have done their best to ignore these accounts, we’ve started targeting them in a measured approach designed to expose the system. Most recently, we targeted the largest, the Multi-Modal Fund, and sent a request to the auditor general who has now agreed, based on information we’d provided in a letter a few weeks ago, to conduct an audit of that fund. We are greatly looking forward to reviewing these findings.”
Moving forward, CSC members are committed to staying engaged throughout the 2018-19 state budget process by being active on committees, speaking with other members individually, and pushing for fiscally responsible legislative budget solutions.
“Governing should never involve increasing taxes on hard-working Pennsylvania families and job creators or borrowing against future generations, especially when available revenue is sitting in hidden accounts.” said Dush. “I am thankful to have found these solution-oriented lawmakers who make up the Common Sense Caucus and proud to serve with them. We are a strong block of voters committed to defeating any new tax increases and controlling spending. I am happy that we are growing in number.”
Visit
RepDush.com and
Facebook.com/RepDush for the latest district event information and state government updates.
Representative Cris Dush
66th Legislative District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Ty McCauslin
717.772.9979
RepDush.com /
Facebook.com/RepDush