Jul. 27, 2017
HARRISBURG – In response to the state Senate passage of tax increases, which will negatively impact all Pennsylvanians, today, Rep. Seth Grove (R-York) issued the following the statement:
“Increasing taxes should never be considered until all options have been exhausted. Today, the Senate approved imposing even more taxes on hard-working and retired Pennsylvanians without first examining other ways to increase revenue without further burdening taxpayers.
“Corporations owe the state $1.2 billion in back taxes, which would all but fill the spending gap in the 2017-18 budget. Additionally, state government has traditionally underspent appropriations by $1.4 billion each year. There is absolutely no way the General Assembly should even entertain this haphazard plan to increase taxes.
“In April, the House passed a responsible budget which reined in spending and put the state on a path toward a sleeker government which works for the people at a cost they can afford, all while ensuring the people continue to receive the services they need. Not only was this budget responsible, but this budget could be balanced through a slew of nontax options which the House passed to the Senate in April.
“Since then, Gov. Tom Wolf has abdicated his leadership responsibility to bring the budget into balance, which led to the tax increases passed by the Senate today. Our past two governors had placed spending in budgetary reserve during the fiscal year when revenues were not hitting estimates. Gov. Wolf not only failed to financially manage the Commonwealth over the past year, but when faced with the responsibly of reducing the spending in the 2017-18 budget, he decided to do nothing. Now these proposed broad-based tax increases would impact every single Pennsylvanian of all walks of life. No one will escape the ever-growing tax monster that is state government.
“Finally, I am deeply dismayed the Senate weakened the Human Services Code, which would have provided taxpayer cost reductions in Pennsylvania’s largest budgetary cost driver while protecting our most vulnerable.”
Representative Seth Grove
196th District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Greg Gross
717.260.6374
ggross@pahousegop.com
RepGrove.com /
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