Feb. 09, 2016
HARRISBURG – The residents of Pennsylvania do not deserve the treatment they would get from the latest budget proposal of $33.29 billion from Gov. Tom Wolf, which centers on a host of tax increases, said Rep. Garth Everett (R-Lycoming/Union) today.
“The governor came before a joint session of the General Assembly and proposed an 11 percent increase in the state’s Personal Income Tax (PIT) which is purely unacceptable,” said Everett. “This, along with several other tax increases, defies common sense. The idea that we can tax our way into fiscal responsibility is certainly not true.”
Everett said the governor’s plan would raise the PIT from 3.07 percent to 3.4 percent and would be administered retroactively to Jan. 1, 2016. Overall, this tax increase would add up to $2.7 billion.
In addition, the proposal would place a natural gas drilling severance tax of 6.5 percent, a very high tax, despite several plans that have been put forward. A cigarette tax of $1 per pack is in the plan, as are sales taxes on cable television, movie theater tickets and digital downloads.
“There is a vast difference between reality and fantasy, and what the governor wants, after being rebuffed on tax increases by both chambers of the General Assembly, is a chapter of a fantasy novel,” said Everett.
Everett said the $33.29 billion budget proposed by Gov. Wolf in his budget address is totally unrealistic. This level of spending would be a $4.1 billion, or 14 percent, increase over when the governor took office a year ago and a $3 billion, or about 10 percent, increase over this year’s $30.3 billion budget. That kind of spending increase is simply unaffordable and unnecessary and would require $3.6 billion in tax increases – most of which the governor proposes to realize through an 11 percent increase in personal income taxes over two years.
“This governor just needs to get real. In our negotiations for this year’s budget, the governor was unable to come up with the votes for a $1 billion tax increase and now he comes back and expects to get more than three times that – it’s just not going to happen,” said Everett.
Everett added-given the yearly required increases to pay for pension obligations and rising costs in corrections, health care and contractual wage increases for employees-piling unneeded spending hikes on top of required increases makes no sense and is patently unfair to the folks who pay the bills – the taxpayers.
“What we need to do right now is to be good stewards of public funds on behalf of taxpayers and control discretionary spending increases to those absolutely necessary. I fully understand that the governor wants to increase spending for this and that – however – to quote the famous philosopher Mick Jagger, “You can’t always get what you want.”
“I look forward to working with my colleagues on the Appropriations Committee and in the House and Senate to craft a budget which meets the needs of Pennsylvanians without ‘pie in the sky’ spending increases and overly burdensome tax increases on the backs of working Pennsylvanians,” said Everett.
Rep. Garth D. Everett
84th District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
(570) 546-2084
(717) 787-5270
Contact: Raymond Smith
rsmith@pahousegop.com
(717) 705-1834
Member Site:
RepEverett.com
Caucus Site:
PAHouseGOP.com