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Senate Stops Rendell Plan to Impose Hidden Taxes
HARRISBURG -- Seeking
to protect and preserve jobs, Senate Republicans rejected a proposal by Gov. Ed
Rendell to impose new taxes and mandates on employers and consumers as part of
the state budget.
Senate Majority Whip Jeff Piccola (R-Dauphin) said
the fees Rendell was pushing for would have had a devastating impact on many
Pennsylvania’s job creators. Jobs would have been lost and some employers would
have been forced to close their doors.
“Earlier this year, the Governor called for $151.4
million in new ‘waste fees.’ Call them what you will. Senate
Republicans called them what they are: higher taxes disguised as ‘fees.’
Every time money and capital are taken from taxpayers’ pockets, both jobs and
job opportunities are threatened,” said Piccola.
The Senate also rejected a proposed $5 per ton
garbage tax increase that would have been paid by of every Pennsylvania
household and business.
Piccola noted that Pennsylvania has lost 133,000
manufacturing jobs in the last five years, leaving 730,000 manufacturing jobs in
the state.
"The more we do to heap more costs on the
manufacturing sector, the more likely it is that these employers will either
move or shut down -- taking jobs with them,” said Piccola. These new taxes
will hurt manufacturing and industry at a time when these good-paying jobs are
sorely needed. We should be working to save these jobs, not eliminate
them.”
He noted that the loss of manufacturing jobs
can create a dangerous ripple effect on communities and businesses because of
the supply chain of parts and services that manufacturers typically sustain.
Piccola said Pennsylvania currently funds a wide
range of environment initiatives through the Growing Greener Program, which was
expanded in 2002 to last through 2012. It will provide a total of $1.24
billion to fund watershed restoration, mine reclamation, oil and gas well
plugging, new wastewater technologies, state park improvements, land
preservation, local recreation projects, water and sewage system improvements
and farmland preservation. Pennsylvania already has the most successful
farmland preservation program in the nation, with more acres preserved than any
state.
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