Mar. 03, 2015
HARRISBURG – Pointing to double-digit tax increases to be paid by working families, Rep. Tedd Nesbit (R-Mercer/Butler) today voiced his serious concerns about the governor’s budget proposal, which was unveiled to the Pennsylvania General Assembly on Tuesday.
The governor presented a $33.8 billion plan that accounts for a 16 percent increase in spending over the current fiscal year and includes $4.7 billion in new and increased taxes, including additional levies on the sales and incomes taxes.
“With this being my first budget address, I listened intently as the governor gave his speech and outlined his priorities for the first year of his new term. However, I continually kept asking myself how he’s going to pay for it,” Nesbit said. “And then I got my answer….in the form of lots of tax increases on our working families.”
To view Nesbit’s video comments, click here.
For the FTP link for broadcast stations, click here.
Among the tax increases are a 21 percent increase in the Personal Income Tax, which could cost a household earning $52,000 a year another $330; a 10 percent increase in the sales tax, which would be broadened to include such items as baby diapers, day care and textbooks; a $1 per pack increase on a pack of cigarettes; and a new tax on smokeless tobacco.
“Pennsylvanians have been taxed enough. Our economic recovery has been sluggish at best, and I am concerned that these additional income and sales taxes will not only weaken our future growth but will destroy any advances we’ve made to this point,” Nesbit added. “This proposal is just that – a rough draft of a budget that will be changed many times. I’m sure there will be many conversations about how we can turn this plan into something more reasonable and workable for those who pay the bill.”
More details about the budget proposal are available online at
www.PAHouseGOP.com.
Representative Tedd Nesbit
8th Legislative District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Jennifer Keaton
(717) 705-2094
jkeaton@pahousegop.com