Feb. 09, 2016
HARRISBURG— Following Gov. Tom Wolf’s budget address to the Legislature, Rep. Warren Kampf (R-Montgomery/Chester) questioned the governor’s proposal to raise taxes, especially the Personal Income Tax by 11 percent.
“How can the governor propose more spending and ever higher taxes for next year, without completing this year’s budget?” Kampf said. “The people of Pennsylvania do not want massive tax increases forced on their already stressed personal budgets.”
Wolf outlined his proposal for a $33.29 billion budget funded by increases in the Personal Income Tax and by expanding the sales tax to include services like cable TV and movie theater tickets, increasing the Insurance Premium Tax, and hiking the state tax on cigarettes by a $1.
Wolf would increase the Personal Income Tax from 3.07 percent to 3.4 percent.
“We have rejected these kinds of onerous tax hikes time and time again, yet the governor continues to demand tax hikes that would fall on our working families,” Kampf said.
Wolf’s budget would raise $893 million in the current fiscal year, which would be annualized to an increase of $2.7 billion in 2016-17.
“There is simply no consensus for this kind of a tax-and-spend plan,” Kampf said. “I had hoped the Governor would come forward with a realistic proposal that could be the starting point for reasonable negotiations, but apparently he continues to push for tax increases like those that were unanimously rejected by Democrats and Republicans in the House last year.”
Kampf called on the governor to find common ground with the Legislature.
“To achieve a responsible budget for the people of Pennsylvania, we must work together. Good faith negotiations are essential to this process – not partisan political attacks,” Kampf said.
Representative Warren Kampf
157th District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: David Foster
267.207.0207
dfoster@pahousegop.com
RepKampf.com /
Facebook.com/RepKampf