House Rejects Governor’s Tax Package, Signifies a New Start for PA Budget Talks, House Majority Leader Says
HARRISBURG – The Pennsylvania House of Representatives today rejected Gov. Tom Wolf’s latest revenue proposal for a 2015-16 budget. The proposal included a $1.4 billion income tax hike on Pennsylvania’s workers and the nation’s highest severance tax on the natural gas industry, which would collect only $67 million. The House vote was 73 to 127.
House Majority Leader Dave Reed (R-Indiana) scheduled the vote in an effort to move budget talks forward after more than three months without an agreement. The governor was given a week to garner support for his tax package.
Reed issued the following statement in regard to the bill’s defeat:
“Today, the governor finally saw what we have been telling him for months – there is not enough support to pass his tax package. It is really as simple as that. We put his plan up for a vote, as promised, and as predicted, it failed.
“We hope the governor and his administration will look at this vote in a realistic manner so we can move forward on negotiating a budget that makes sense for the taxpayers of Pennsylvania. It is time to come back to the table and honestly negotiate a reasonable and responsible spending plan to fund our schools and core functions of government.
“Our constituents want to ensure their tax dollars go as far as they can, and that’s why we need real public pension reform. We also need some type of liquor reform to grow revenues and improve customer convenience. And to protect residents from growing local school costs, we need real dollar-for-dollar property tax relief for all taxpayers.
“These are the issues we hope to address with a final budget. Tomorrow will mark 100 days without one. We hope to spend it meeting with the governor in earnest negotiations so we can get badly needed funds to our schools and human service agencies, while keeping state government in operation.”
The governor’s plan called for a 16 percent increase in the Personal Income Tax, from 3.07 percent to 3.57 percent.
Wolf’s severance tax proposal would have been in addition to the impact fee already paid by drilling companies. Combined, the two levies would have resulted in a 14.7 percent tax rate, the highest in the nation.
Additionally, the governor wanted to expand the Property Tax/Rent Rebate Program, providing additional rebates to eligible senior citizens and persons with disabilities. However, a majority of the Commonwealth’s property owners would have seen no tax relief under the Wolf proposal.
Representative Dave Reed, Majority Leader
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Stephen Miskin
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