Pennsylvania has been without a budget for almost 100 days.
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Gov. Tom Wolf’s tax proposal is being debated in the state House of Representatives in the first-term Democrat’s effort to break Pennsylvania’s 3-month-old budget impasse.
House GOP leaders said they are not aware of any of their caucus members supporting it. The tax vote is unusual because there is no agreed-to spending plan.
“We put together a real big group of votes to do something really tough”, Wolf said.
As recently as Monday, the governor was calling on Republicans and Democrats to forget their party and make a “once in a generation” vote for tax increases.
Democrats who stuck with Wolf argued that the increase to a broad-base tax was necessary to boost revenue and keep up with expenses, while Republicans argued the hike would burden working-class Pennsylvanians.
Wolf and his Democratic allies want new revenues to plug a billion-dollar-plus structural deficit and to send more money to schools and for human services. The proposal called for a 16% increase in the Personal Income Tax and an effective 14% tax rate on natural gas drilling operations. Illinois is the only other state without a budget in place.
“But on this issue, I have to respectfully disagree”, said Morganelli, who wants to see the jury’s decision carried out.
Rep. Gene DiGirolamo, a moderate Republican from Bucks County, urged his colleagues to cooperate with one another.
The governor’s goal is to raise $1.4 billion for the current fiscal year and $2.4 billion next year.
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“Governor Wolf continues to offer compromises while fighting for Pennsylvania’s future, while Republicans cling to their theological adherence to Grover Norquist’s no-revenue pledges and try to come up with new and innovative ways to embarrass Governor Wolf and our Commonwealth”, Leach said. “Right now we don’t have a proposal about what you would do with this money”.
