Brown: 189th District Cannot Afford Governor’s Tax Proposal
Area lawmaker comments on Gov. Tom Wolf’s budget plan for 2016-17
HARRISBURG – On Tuesday, Rep. Rosemary M. Brown (R-Monroe/Pike) joined her House colleagues at a joint session of the Pennsylvania General Assembly to hear Gov. Tom Wolf’s budget proposal for the 2016-17 fiscal year. The 2015-16 budget is currently 87 percent complete since the governor line item vetoed $6.3 billion from the plan in December.
“Widespread tax and spend increases is what I heard as the governor spoke today. I remain hopeful that the governor remembers that negotiations with the House and Senate are essential moving forward from today.
“I am disappointed in the governor’s budget address and the extreme scare tactic he used to try to convince the people of Pennsylvania that we have no other choice but to raise taxes. No one is disagreeing that we have a structural deficit close to $2 billion. However, it’s extremely important to remember that when I first came into office in 2011, we had an approximately $4.5 billion deficit. Since then, we have reduced that deficit without raising broad-based taxes on the people and we are moving in the right direction. With reforms to government and responsible spending, we can stand and protect our taxpayers from increased taxes and create a strong future. I disagree with the governor that raising taxes is what is best for Pennsylvanians’, and especially for the people of my district.
“For the past decade we have made historic investments in education, with more state money than ever before. We did this while also being mindful of the taxpayers and not insisting upon billions in increased sales or income taxes. We have also made great strides in working to distribute this funding more fairly to our local schools.
“The last thing the people of my district are requesting is an expanded sales or income tax to then be used to plug our general fund and be disbursed to other areas of the state when our local financial crisis is severe. The governor mentioned the state’s severe financial crisis. What about the financial crisis the people of the Poconos have been facing for at least the last 10 years? I continue to stand strong on the fact that regardless of political affiliation, the people I represent want real property tax reform, and they do not have extra disposable income to offer to the general fund. The people are asking me to force government to work more efficiently with what they already give in taxes as well as reduce their taxes. It pains me to see this governor turn a blind eye and take more money from the people, disburse it how he sees fit and fill his wish list.”
For more information about this statement, or any state-related issue, contact Brown’s district office in East Stroudsburg located at 143 Seven Bridge Road, by calling 570-420-8301. Information can also be found on online at
RepBrown.com or
Facebook.com/RepRosemaryBrown.
Representative Rosemary M. Brown
189th District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Krisinda Corbin
717.705.2032
KCorbin@pahousegop.com
RepBrown.com /
Facebook.com/RepRosemaryBrown