After Universal Shutdowns of the State’s Economy, Wolf’s offers a Budget that Crushes Pennsylvania’s Working Families

February 3, 2021

HARRISBURG – In response to Gov. Tom Wolf’s budget proposal, the York County House Republican delegation consisting of House Appropriations Chairman Stan Saylor (R-Red Lion), House State Government Committee Chairman Seth Grove (R-Dover) and Reps. Kate Klunk (R-Hanover), Keith Gillespie (R-Hellam), Dawn Keefer (R-Dillsburg) and Mike Jones (R-York Township) issued the following statement:

“What the governor proposed today in his budget address was more unsustainable spending coupled with an equally unsustainable and unconstitutional, nearly 50%, tax increase taxpayers simply cannot handle. What’s more is small businesses, the same small businesses Wolf didn’t view as essential when he unilaterally closed nearly all of them last year, would be hit hardest since they pay the Personal Income Tax instead of the Corporate Net Income Tax. This is nothing more than a one-two punch to our small businesses, which employee nearly half of all private sector workers in the state and will only further harm our local economies and the state’s overall economy.

“In the past few years, we have made great strides to rebuild our middle class through important changes to Career and Technical Education, and other initiatives, to get people into good jobs that pay family-sustaining wages. But under the governor’s proposal, the typical family of four making more than $84,000 a year would see their taxes go up. This is not an incentive to make more money and move ahead. The governor’s draconian tax scheme only stands to deter workers, many of whom were left jobless because of his business closures, from moving up the economic chain.

“Instead of hitting families’ wallets and undercutting small businesses’ bottom line, the governor should be focused on increasing COVID-19 vaccination rates so people can fully get back to work so Pennsylvania’s economic engine is firing on all cylinders again. This would put hard-working Pennsylvanians and the Commonwealth on a path toward financial sustainability.

“Over the past year, Pennsylvanians have suffered from mismanagement throughout the Wolf administration. Under his watch, COVID-19 deaths at nursing homes skyrocketed, businesses were shuttered, people were put out of work, his Secretary of State resigned because she failed to protect abuse victims, and now our state is trailing the nation in vaccine distribution, ranked 44th out of 50 states. Coupled with his illegal overspending, how can we trust him to do the right thing with even more tax dollars?

“We look forward to creating a budget that actually works for the hard-working people of Pennsylvania, one that doesn’t decrease their paychecks. We can do better than what the governor proposed today, and we will do better.”

York County House Republican Delegation
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Greg Gross
717.260.6374
ggross@pahousegop.com