Jun. 02, 2015
HARRISBURG - Reps. Jesse Topper (R-Bedford/Franklin/Fulton) and Carl Walker Metzgar (R-Somerset/Bedford) this week joined every member of the House in voting to reject a proposal mirroring the tax increases advanced by Gov. Tom Wolf for the 2015-16 fiscal year.
“These plans are so unpopular that not one House member voted in favor of them,” Topper said. “We need a budget which spends within the Commonwealth’s means. Pennsylvanians simply cannot afford another $12.7 billion in new taxes over the next two years.”
Topper pointed to information from the Independent Fiscal Office that indicated the tax hikes would negatively impact residents all across the state from all income groups.
The governor’s $33.8 billion budget proposal represents an increase of nearly $5 billion, or 16 percent, over the current year’s budget.
“The taxpayers cannot afford this unbelievable set of tax hikes in the face of an economy that is still struggling,” said Metzgar. “The House made it clear that it will not go along with such punitive tax increases. A sensible budget that restrains spending and applies economic common sense is what’s needed.”
The tax plan came up for a vote in the state House Monday, after one of Topper and Metzgar’s Republican colleagues brought up the tax plan for a vote to demonstrate how little support the proposal has among lawmakers from both sides of the aisle.
The state’s 2015-16 fiscal year begins on July 1.
Representative Jesse Topper
78th District
Representative Carl Walker Metzgar
69th District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Nick Ruffner
717.260.6258
nruffner@pahousegop.com