Budget Protects Working Families from Massive Tax Increases

For Immediate Release
Commonwealth Foundation
Contact: John Bouder, 570-490-1042

PA Budget Protects Working Families
from Massive Tax Increases

No-Tax-Hike Spending Plan Good for Low & Middle Income Pennsylvanians

June 27, 2015, HARRISBURG, Pa.—Today, the state House of Representatives passed a state budget that lives within its means without demanding higher taxes on Pennsylvania’s working families—rejecting the record-setting tax increases proposed by Gov. Wolf earlier this year.

Matthew J. Brouillette, president and CEO of the Commonwealth Foundation, issued the following statement in response to the passage of the House budget:

With this budget, House members are standing up for low and middle income Pennsylvanians who would have been clobbered by Gov. Wolf’s massive tax increases. Working families know that you can’t spend what you don’t have, and the state already has enough to fund the core functions of government.

The citizens of our commonwealth already shoulder the 10th highest state and local taxes in the nation. Harrisburg should not be asking them for a penny more in higher taxes. That’s why—despite the current partisan rhetoric—not a single member of the House voted for the governor’s $4.5 billion tax increase earlier this month.

Jobs are the best anti-poverty program, and by leaving money in the pockets of those who earned it—rather than demanding more from taxpayers for government to spend—job opportunities will continue to expand across the state. Gov. Wolf’s massive tax proposals would have burdened families of every income level with tax hikes and eliminated 30,000 potential job opportunities next year. Those aren’t the results the governor promised the people of Pennsylvania.

Unfortunately, Gov. Wolf—who campaigned as a “different kind of governor”—already made it clear that he plans to veto this responsible spending approach. The truth is, this on-time budget actually delivers on his promises of jobs that pay, government that works, and schools that teach.

Matthew Brouillette and other Commonwealth Foundation experts are available for comment today. Please contact John Bouder at 570-490-1042 or [email protected] to schedule an interview.

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