Feb. 25, 2015
HARRISBURG – Believing that state government should manage its revenues responsibly, Rep. Tarah Toohil (R-Luzerne) joined other supporters of legislation that would control spending growth at a Capitol news conference on Monday.
The Taxpayer Protection Act (
House Bill 472) has been introduced in the House of Representatives. Companion legislation was introduced in the Senate.
“State spending was out of control prior to 2010, when Republicans took control of the General Assembly,” said Toohil. “Since then, we have enacted budgets that uphold the basic principles of the Taxpayer Protection Act. However, because there are no guarantees that same sense of fiscal responsibility will take place in the future, this legislation needs to be adopted to ensure the state’s financial resources are wisely spent.”
The legislation would amend the Pennsylvania Constitution to establish a spending cap based on a combination of the inflation rate and population growth, forcing state government to be fiscally responsible. It would also establish a healthy Rainy Day Fund for balancing the state budget during times of recession.
The Taxpayer Protection Act must be approved by two successive general assemblies and then would have to be decided by voters. The earliest a ballot referendum could go before the public would be 2017.
The bill has been referred to the House State Government Committee for consideration.
For more information on Toohil and her legislative priorities, please visit
www.RepToohil.com or
www.Facebook.com/RepToohil.
Representative Tarah Toohil
116th District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Contact: Rep. Toohil’s Office
717.260.6136
RepToohil.com /
Facebook.com/RepToohil