Budget Battle Heats Up

Member Group : Americans for Prosperity-PA

Things are heating up in Pennsylvania

As temperatures began to inch toward 100 degrees in mid-July, lawmakers across the state were being bombarded with attacks from Governor Wolf and his handlers claiming that the no-tax budget they passed in June is bad for Pennsylvania. Attacking the people you have to negotiate with is not usually the fastest path to success, but it’s the one the Governor has taken with $750,000 from the union backed PAC America Works to back him up.

Pennsylvanians carry the tenth highest tax burden in the country so a no-tax budget was a breath of fresh air compared to the Governor’s demand for five billion in new taxes aimed at raising your income tax, your sales tax and your energy costs through an additional severance tax on natural gas producers. But, the Governor, forgetting that he’s supposed to be governing and not campaigning, is hoping to be able to convince enough of Pennsylvania that it’s someone else’s budget that will be gored, not theirs.

And what is he demanding? More money for education, even though education spending in Pennsylvania is at an all time high. A property tax bait and switch, where he raises your income tax by 20% and the sales tax by 15% and rewards the residents of Philadelphia and a few other select school districts with property tax relief. He’s demanding an additional tax on natural gas, which is the one bright spot of economic activity the last five years. Gas producers already pay an impact fee and a nearly 10% corporate tax rate. And while the argument that other states have a severance tax makes people feel good about it, what the Governor doesn’t tell you is that many of those states don’t have income or corporate taxes. Governor Wolf wants all of them. In addition, his proposal taxes the gas companies to give corporate welfare tax credits to alternative energy producers who can’t compete in the free-market.

So what you doing this Summer to stay cool in all this heat? We need you to help us fight the Wolf tax hike – a clear and present danger to all Pennsylvania families – and hold him and politicians accountable who think that they can raise taxes rather than cutting wasteful spending.

Higher taxes hurt all of us –leaving working families with less money to pay their bills and put food on the table, hurting small businesses, and slowing our economy’s recovery. We should be a state that welcomes young strivers and entrepreneurs, not a state that drives people away with ever increasing taxes.

Governor Wolf knows that taking the fight to the people is the best way to win, so we all need to be doing our part to make sure lawmakers know that we can’t tax our way to prosperity. That we are absolutely against the lost opportunity and limited economic growth that comes every time we are forced to send more of our dollars into the inefficient black hole of Harrisburg? And that we are paying attention and will demand more from those who work for us.

Call your lawmakers, visit their offices, attend their rallies and townhall meetings, support those who said no to the Governor’s tax hikes and send the message that Pennsylvanian’s are willing to fight for better government, for more economic freedom, for lower taxes and for a better Pennsylvania.

AFP is leading the fight on holding the PA legislature accountable for wasteful spending, advocating for more responsible budgeting, opposing job-killing tax hikes, fighting for worker freedom, and promoting pro-growth policies for everyone in our Commonwealth. Join us at www.americansforprosperty.com/pennsylvania.