Wolf unveils the next PA budget, despite deadlock
Gov. Tom Wolf unveiled his 2016-17 budget proposal, and delivered an unflinching screed about the failure to pass a "responsible" spending plan for the current…
In an address to the Pennsylvania General Assembly on Tuesday, Gov. Tom Wolf unveiled his 2016-17 budget proposal, and delivered his most unflinching screed to date about the failure to pass a "responsible" spending plan for the current fiscal year.
“This will not be an ordinary governor’s budget address,” Wolf opened his address. “Usually, this speech is an opportunity to lay out an ambitious agenda for the year ahead. Under ordinary circumstances I would outline my 2016-17 budget proposal, full of ideas to move our commonwealth forward. But I can't give that speech. Not under these circumstances."
While a partial spending package was passed at the end of 2015, the larger 2015-16 legislative budget has now run 224 days past its due date.
Wolf detailed the "catastrophic" consequences of a $2 billion deficit that would face the commonwealth by mid-2017, including massive layoffs in the education sector and program cuts across the board. Wolf said that the current problem was one of math, not of politics, and urged the Republican-controlled legislature to move on the stalemate.
The 2016-17 budget calls for about a dozen tax increases, including an 11 percent personal income tax increase. Overall, the new taxes represent a $2.7 billion increase in revenue. A line item detail of the budget can be read here.
Backlash from Republican legislators was swift.
Adolph: the 60 minute lecture we just got from Wolf was painful. We're not paid to rubbed stamp anything - esp not huge tax hikes #PAbudget
— PA House Republicans (@PAHouseGOP) February 9, 2016
Reed: We understand that Gov has gone an entire year spending millions of dollars attacking the Legislature with TV ads and mail. #PAbudget
— PA House Republicans (@PAHouseGOP) February 9, 2016
Reed: I see no way that the #PAHouse is going to rubbed stamp Wolf's demands for massive tax hikes pic.twitter.com/syjym3t5tK
— PA House Republicans (@PAHouseGOP) February 9, 2016
"Governor Wolf's 2016-17 budget proposal is astounding," Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati said in a statement. "He doubles down on his 2015-16 proposal to include even more runaway spending and massive taxes in this year's proposal."
Democratic legislators in Philadelphia, however, mostly praised Wolf's efforts in a series of press releases following the address. City Council President Darrell Clarke called the new budget "a roadmap toward a stronger future for Pennsylvania’s children, families, and workers." Meanwhile, Mayor Jim Kenney said that the Wolf "illustrated the urgency of increasing education funding."
Here's a fuller run-down of the new taxes proposed for the new bill, per the Morning Call:
- An 11 percent increase to the personal income tax. Changing the current 3.07 percent rate to 3.4 percent would raise an additional $1.4 billion.
- A 6.5 percent tax on natural gas drillers operating in the Marcellus shale region. Drillers now pay a lower impact fee. A severance tax would raise $217.8 million at current gas prices.
- A 6 percent sales taxes on basic cable TV, movie theater tickets and digital downloads. The new taxes would raise $414.6 million.
- A 0.5 percent tax on fire, property and liability casualty insurance premiums for individuals and businesses. The new tax would raise $100.9 million.
- A $1 tax on a pack of cigarettes and a 40 percent tax on cigars, tobacco chewers and vaporized e-cigarette smokers, all of which are not taxed now. The taxes would raise $604.1 million.
- An 8 percent tax on casino slot machine and table gaming winnings and a 3.4 percent tax on Pennsylvania Lottery jackpots. The combined taxes would raise $67.2 million.
- An 11 percent increase on the banking industry. The so-called bank shares tax would raise $39.2 million.
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