Bartolotta Votes Against Package of New Taxes

 

HARRISBURG – Sen. Camera Bartolotta (R-46) issued the following statement after voting against a package of new taxes on Pennsylvania families and businesses:

“I appreciate the difficulty in crafting a revenue plan necessary to meet the state’s financial challenges, but this bill is the wrong approach. These tax increases will hit almost every individual and family in Pennsylvania. Too many families are already struggling to meet their own financial obligations. Demanding that they pay even higher taxes for basic necessities like electricity and heat will only make those problems worse.

“The additional severance tax has the potential to devastate the natural gas industry in southwestern Pennsylvania. We should be doing everything in our power to encourage companies to come here, stay here and create family-sustaining jobs. Instead, we are threatening them with even greater tax burdens at a time when they are already leery about making new investments in our communities.

“These employers already pay a severance tax. We just call it an impact fee. This tax is levied in addition to the business and corporate taxes every other Pennsylvania business pays. This bill asks the industry to shoulder yet another severance tax on top of the existing severance tax – a form of triple taxation. This short-sighted approach will only lead to fewer jobs in local communities, fewer private dollars flowing into the state, and more budget problems down the road when companies take their operations elsewhere.”

 

CONTACT: Katrina Anderson (717) 787-1463

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