Wolf Wants $1 Billion In New Taxes Says CF — Nathan Benefield of Commonwealth Foundation notes that the budget Gov. Tom Wolf unveiled yesterday, Feb. 7, would raise living expenses by $315 for a family of four.
This is because that Wolf wants to expand the sales tax to several business services and add a 6.5 percent natural gas severance tax, which is an extremely foolish idea.
The bottom line is that Wolf wants a billion dollars more in taxes.
There is no need for this. Pennsylvania’s expenses are bloated and can be easily cut. While Wolf gives lip service to doing so, he rejects simple yet effective solutions such as public pension reform, or the repeal of the prevailing wage law that adds 20 percent to the cost of almost all public projects.
Or once again forbidding teacher strikes that cause the cost of school taxes to rise far above the rate of inflation.
There is not even consideration for small but real money-saving things such as ending the mandate to pay old media for carrying public notices which is something that can be cheaply handled by all government bodies via the web, and be far more useful to citizens than the existing standard.
Pennsylvania voters have to make it a point to reject leaders whose loyalty lies with the special interests and governing class, and not them.