Bartolotta: Wolf Budget Proposal Threatens Economic Growth

HARRISBURG – Senator Camera Bartolotta (R-46) issued the following statement today in response to Governor Wolf’s budget address:

“Twenty-six years as a small business owner has taught me the importance of setting realistic, frugal budgets that properly fund core operations, while making calculated investments in the future. Last week, I followed through on a campaign promise to bring these same principles to state government by introducing a bill that would provide greater fiscal responsibility in the budget process.

“Today, the governor has opted for a much different approach – taxes, taxes, and more taxes. If my business followed this same methodology, I would have found myself on the fast track to bankruptcy court.

“In particular, the governor’s proposed tax on natural gas companies is an extremely disappointing policy position that is rooted in political ideology, not pragmatism. When an industry is creating quality jobs, paying its fair share of taxes and providing millions in additional revenues to pay for other priorities like roads and bridges, the worst approach we can take is to chase them away by saddling them with the highest tax burden of any natural gas-producing state in the country.

“Communities in my district have seen enormous gains in terms of employment and infrastructure thanks to the Marcellus Shale industry in recent years. The imposition of an extraction tax would only serve to erase every benefit the industry has brought to our region and put up barriers to future economic growth. I will fight against that wrong-headed course of action every step of the way.

“I ran for office with a message of reforming government, controlling taxes and limiting spending. I cannot ask my community – my neighbors and their families – to send billions more to Harrisburg without exhausting all of the options to fix the structural budget problems.”

Senator Bartolotta was selected to deliver the Senate Republican Caucus’s official response to the governor’s budget address.

CONTACT:    Colleen Greer (717) 787-1463

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