Jul. 21, 2015
HARRISBURG – Rep. Tom Killion (R-Delaware) blasted the Wolf administration for its smear campaign against state lawmakers who oppose the massive income and sales tax hikes contained in the Wolf budget plan.
America Works USA, a nonprofit with ties to the Democratic Governors Association, went on the attack following a House vote on Wolf’s proposal to increase taxes and spending by more than $12 billion over two years. All 193 House Republicans and Democrats voted against the tax hikes in early June, but Wolf is exacting revenge against Republican lawmakers, sending mailers into their legislative districts criticizing them for putting oil and gas interests ahead of children.
“None of the mailers out of Washington, D.C., mention that 97 percent of the $12-plus billion in taxes to be paid under the governor’s plan would come out of the pockets of hard-working Pennsylvania taxpayers,” said Killion. “The governor likes to talk about taxing oil and gas drillers to pay for education, but under his plan, only 3 percent of his tax hikes would be paid by oil and gas companies. The rest would come from sharp increases in our Personal Income Tax and the state Sale and Use Tax. That is simply unacceptable.”
Wolf vetoed the $30.8 billion budget passed by the General Assembly – a plan that would raise basic education funding to unprecedented levels, fund the core functions of government including critical human services and do it all without raising taxes.
Wolf’s budget proposal would reach deeper into the pockets of consumers by raising the state sales tax from 6 percent to 6.6 percent – a 10 percent increase. It would also expand the sales tax to include hundreds of items Pennsylvania consumers use every day that are not presently taxed, such as day care; diapers; college meal plans, fees and textbooks; long-term care facilities and home health care; and it doesn’t end there. The governor also wants to increase the income tax by 21 percent, further impacting one’s ability to pay for the massive tax increases he is proposing.
“By vetoing this budget, the governor is effectively withholding nearly $13 billion in state funds from service providers, nonprofits, schools and social service programs,” said Killion. “In the meantime, he’s spending upward of a million dollars to attack lawmakers who are trying to protect taxpayers from his unprecedented tax grab.”
Representative Thomas Killion
168th District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Donna Pinkham
717.260.6452
dpinkham@pahousegop.com
RepKillion.com /
Facebook.com/RepKillion