Baker Votes No on Governor's Multi-Billion Tax Plan
HARRISBURG – State Rep. Matt Baker (R-Tioga/Bradford/Potter) today joined the majority of his colleagues in the House in voting no on the governor’s new tax plan that would increase taxes by billions of dollars by increasing the Personal Income Tax, as well as placing an additional tax on natural gas production operations. He issued this statement following the vote:
“Today’s vote clearly demonstrates to the governor that the support is not there to increase taxes on the hard-working people of Pennsylvania. The governor’s proposed Personal Income Tax increase of 16 percent would have taken more money out of every paycheck, which is something the residents I represent do not want. It would also hurt many of our small business owners.
“The additional tax he is proposing on natural gas production, on top of the impact fee and other business taxes the companies already pay, would make Pennsylvania the costliest state in the country for these companies to operate. Under the governor’s proposal, a severance tax would be levied at 3.5 percent in addition to another 4.7 cents per thousand cubic feet. With the price of natural gas around $1 per thousand cubic feet, this would equate to about a 14.7 percent effective tax rate. This would have a negative impact on the industry and take more jobs out of state. Here in the Northern Tier, we have overwhelmingly benefitted from the job creation, cheaper energy prices and increased regional revenue from the industry. Any additional taxes would be to the detriment of our area’s economy.
“There have already been two proposals sent to the governor that balances the budget without any tax increases. I am hopeful today’s vote will challenge the governor to take a new direction on resolving the state budget impasse – one in which we can get majority support.”
Representative Matthew Baker
68th District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Tricia Lehman
717.772.9840
tlehman@pahousegop.com
RepBaker.com /
Facebook.com/RepBaker