O’NEAL: Historic Tax Cuts for ALL Pennsylvanians
For the people across Pennsylvania, the past few years have been filled with economic uncertainty and soaring costs. Inflation has run rampant. Families and seniors have watched grocery bills multiply, energy costs skyrocket, and home prices and rent go through the roof.
And through it all, what can you say your government has done to help you?
President Joe Biden and Gov. Josh Shapiro certainly have their ideas. Essentially, they say the government needs more of your money so that they can decide how to spend your tax dollars to best help you. How is that going?
Pennsylvania’s bank account is already flush. In fact, the Commonwealth is projected to have a budget surplus of over $14 billion. Gov. Shapiro’s response to this is to spend away on more government programs and wasted bureaucratic bloat. In fact, Gov. Shapiro’s budget proposal calls for outrageous spending increases that would set Pennsylvania on a path towards massive tax hikes in just a few years.
Year after year, Pennsylvania increases its budgetary spending by record amounts. Just since I was elected to office in 2018, Pennsylvania has increased spending by nearly $13 billion or 40 percent. Could the average person tell you how Pennsylvania’s now nearly $50 billion in spending each year is directly making their lives better?
It’s time we throw out the notion that the only way to improve people’s lives is to take more of their money and spend it. Why not invest in working families rather than government? Let’s get out of people’s wallets and let them keep more of their hard-earned money.
Now is the time to pass historic tax cuts for ALL Pennsylvanians.
The good news is we have already taken the first step. Recently, the state Senate overwhelmingly passed bipartisan legislation to reduce the Personal Income Tax and eliminate a burdensome tax on electricity bills. House Republicans have come out in strong support by quickly moving to introduce identical legislation and calling on House Democrats to act.
We are not talking about tax breaks for just a privileged few or for massive corporations. This plan would mean more money in every single Pennsylvanian’s paycheck and would immediately reduce electricity bills for every single consumer.
Think about what even a small boost in a working mom’s take-home pay would mean for her family. Or what a 10 percent reduction in an electricity bill would mean for a retired couple.
Harrisburg politicians need to stop worrying about increasing government revenue and spending it all on big plans of which no one has even heard. We have a chance to act now and immediately change the lives of every single Pennsylvanian.
Let’s invest in the people of Pennsylvania rather than the government. Pass tax cuts now.
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