Feb. 09, 2016
HARRISBURG – Rep. Marcy Toepel (R-Montgomery) today joined her colleagues in a joint session of the General Assembly as Gov. Tom Wolf delivered his second budget address. His $33.29 billion budget proposal would require a $2.7 billion tax increase.
“My constituents have expressed their opinions in the last year, following the governor’s first massive tax increase request, and the support for a plan like this just isn’t there,” Toepel said. “I’m surprised that the governor has not received the same reactions during his travels throughout the Commonwealth.”
The $2.7 billion tax increase would be generated in part from an 11 percent increase in the Personal Income Tax (PIT), an expansion of the sales tax to include items such as cable television and movie tickets, as well as a tax on all tobacco products.
“Gov. Wolf was even more brazen in his requests this year; not only does he want to raise the PIT, but he wants to raise it retroactively,” Toepel explained. “This is not something someone who serves working families would ever suggest.”
The Department of Revenue has not indicated how employers of the Commonwealth would collect the retroactive tax. However, when the decision is made, all employers will be mandated to follow the same protocol, whether it is taking one lump payment from paychecks or increasing the PIT rate temporarily beyond the 3.4 percent to gather the back payments.
In addition to hurting taxpayers by taking more money out of their paychecks, the governor did not address one of the top concerns: property tax relief. Despite calling for $2.7 billion in new taxes, not a dollar would be dedicated to alleviating the burden that homeowners across the state feel.
While increasing taxes and denying property tax relief, the governor also did not address pension reform, which further burdens taxpayers in the 147th District when property taxes must be raised to meet rising pension costs. In his proposed budget, almost half of the education funding would be dedicated to paying for school employees’ retirement.
“Without achieving pension reform, more and more of the education funding will be dedicated to pensions each year, leaving less for our children. We must pursue pension reform to stabilize education funding,” Toepel said.
Representative Marcy Toepel
147th District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Alison Evans
717.260.6206
aevans@pahousegop.com
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