Oct. 13, 2015
By Rep. Julie Harhart (R-Lehigh/Northampton)
The Pennsylvania General Assembly sent Gov. Tom Wolf a no-tax-increase, balanced budget on June 30, which was the deadline for a budget to be in place for the 2015-16 fiscal year; yet, here we are in October with still no budget agreement. What happened?
The governor wants to spend more money than the state currently receives, so he wants to raise taxes in order to generate additional revenue. Therefore, the fiscally responsible budget passed by the General Assembly - which met all the state’s obligations and increased state spending for education by more than $100 million over last year - was vetoed.
In August, House and Senate Republicans offered a compromise to increase education spending to $400 million more over last year’s budget, which is what the governor had been asking for – and still he said no.
During the last three months, House Republicans have also tried to ensure schools, human service agencies and county governments receive essential state funding while a final compromise was worked out. Unfortunately, attempts at both a line-item veto override and emergency funding legislation failed due to the lack of support from the House Democrats and/or the governor.
Most recently, on Oct. 7, the House, in a bipartisan move, voted down the latest budget tax plan presented by the governor, which sought to increase the Personal Income Tax by 16 percent. This would have meant more money being taken out of the paychecks of hard-working men and women each week at a time when they can hardly afford it.
He also proposed an additional tax on the natural gas drilling industry which would bring its total severance tax amount to 14 percent – the highest in the nation. This would drive more jobs from the industry out of the state and eventually reduce the amount of funding our communities are currently receiving through the impact fee, which is based on the amount of production.
I applaud the governor on realizing the need to address property taxes in the Commonwealth. However, his plan would have made adjustments to the current Property Tax/Rent Rebate Program to include more low-income seniors and those with disabilities. The problem is the relief would not begin for two years and it would not address the overall tax burden placed on families of all ages and income levels across the state. Instead of taxing citizens further in order to implement a Band-Aid approach to this problem, I think we need to look for substantial, long-term solutions that provide dollar-for-dollar relief or, ideally, complete elimination of school property taxes.
I am hopeful after this most recent vote the governor realizes the lack of support for broad-based taxes and works with the Legislature to come to a budget compromise that funds the core functions of government and increases our commitment to education without any new or increased taxes.
I urge you all to stay tuned as this budget saga continues.
Representative Julie Harhart
183rd District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Tricia Lehman
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