Oct. 08, 2015
HARRISBURG – On Wednesday, Rep. Rosemary M. Brown (R-Monroe/Pike) joined the majority of her House colleagues in voting “no” against drastically raising taxes on Pennsylvania families. Following the vote, Brown issued the statement below:
“The governor announced his revised tax plan on Tuesday, under which the Personal Income Tax would increase from 3.07 percent to 3.57 percent, a 16 percent hike. On Wednesday, I voted against this proposal, and I am hopeful that this vote reinforces the message that we need a new direction with this ongoing budget impasse. We need a reasonable agreement that funds core functions of government while keeping our hard-working taxpayers in mind. Raising taxes on Pennsylvania’s workers and families really should be the last resort.
“In my district, we need property tax relief. The governor is picking and choosing tax increases, but I don’t see the type of property tax relief we need in my area in exchange. This is not the way this needs to work for the district I represent.
“An increase in the Personal Income Tax affects more than just employees – it would also raise the tax bills for small business owners. A vote in favor of the tax increases would have been a vote to stomp on businesses and continue to take more money from hard-working Pennsylvanians. Instead, I will continue to defend workers and job creators in the Commonwealth while trying to get significant, and real, tax relief for homeowners.
“The governor also proposed a severance tax that would be levied at 3.5 percent, plus 4.7 cents per thousand cubic feet. His severance tax proposal accounts for only 5 percent of his overall tax increases he is requesting for fiscal year 2015-16. As a result, 95 percent, the large majority of his tax increases, would come from the Personal Income Tax – right out of hardworking Pennsylvanians’ paychecks and would not give overall property tax relief.”
Brown’s video comments are available online at
YouTube.com/RepBrown. For more information about this legislation, or any state-related issue, contact Brown’s district office in East Stroudsburg located at 143 Seven Bridge Road, by calling 570-420-8301. Information can also be found on online at
RepBrown.com or
Facebook.com/RepRosemaryBrown.
Representative Rosemary M. Brown
189th District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Krisinda Corbin
717.705.2032
KCorbin@pahousegop.com
RepBrown.com /
Facebook.com/RepRosemaryBrown