Congressman Pitts joined me to help unveil my 8-point-plan to help strengthen Pennsylvania’s economy.
Click here to read the Daily Local News’s coverage of my press confrence.
Plan for a New Pennsylvania
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Demand Our Fair Share of Education Funding for West Chester’s Schools – Pennsylvania spends more on welfare than basic education, and West Chester’s schools receive the state’s minimum amount of funding each year. This is contributing to higher property taxes. We must demand our fair share of state education funding. Our children, parents and taxpayers deserve more than the state minimum
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Slow Down Government Growth – State spending has increased nearly 40% in just six years. We should slow the rate of growth in state government by limiting spending increases at the rate of inflation and population growth.
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Make It Harder for Politicians to Raise Our Taxes – We should require a 2/3 “super majority” in the state legislature for all tax increases, helping hold the line on Pennsylvania’s taxes.
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Stop Wasting Taxpayers Dollars – Instead of fair funding for West Chester’s schools or providing tax relief, Harrisburg gives $75 million in tax breaks a year to Hollywood movie studios and has given Comcast $43 million of our tax dollars. We need transparency and new safeguards for the state’s Opportunity Grant Program to prevent wasteful spending.
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Cut the State Income Tax – Pennsylvania’s income tax was increased 10% in 2003, resulting in $2.7 billion in new taxes. With a slowing economy, we should cut the state income tax and put more money back in to the pockets of taxpayers.
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Cut Electric Bill Taxes – A 50% reduction in our electric bill taxes will return $1.6 billion to ratepayers over the next five years. This will help Pennsylvanians cope with higher electricity costs as rate caps are removed from our electric bills.
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Provide Meaningful Property Tax Relief – Shannon Royer has been involved with older adults for twelve years as a volunteer at the West Chester Area Senior Center. He understands that school property taxes are especially challenging for people living on fixed incomes. We must immediately freeze school property taxes at the age of retirement or eliminate school property taxes for lower income seniors.
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Help Businesses and Grow Our Economy – Small businesses are the backbone of Pennsylvania’s economy. We must provide immediate help so they can create new jobs and stimulate our economy. This can be done by lowering the Corporate Net Income Tax, move to a Single Sales Factor so businesses are taxed on in-state sales only, remove the Net Operating Loss cap to help start-up businesses, remove the Research and Development cap and phase out the Capital Stock and Franchise Tax.
