Rep. Wendi Thomas (R-Bucks) issued the following statement following Gov. Tom Wolf’s proposed budget for the 2021-22 fiscal year.
“While I look forward to learning the details of the proposal, I am concerned about a plan for the state that decreases taxes on large corporations and increases taxes on our small business owners, and our hard-working individuals,” Thomas said.
The governor’s $40.2 billion plan for 2021-22 would increase spending by 8.2 percent, or about $3 billion, over the 2019-20 budget.
“This seems like a significant increase, as much as a 46 percent increase in Personal Income Tax to support a $40 billion budget; I did not hear of any cuts to unnecessary spending by the government,” Thomas said.
Under the governor’s plan, she said Pennsylvanians will pay higher taxes if they are:
– Single earning more than $49,000 a year
– A married couple without children earning more than $64,000 a year
– A married couple with two children earning more than $84,000 a year
– A single parent with two children earning more than $69,000
“Our community has been pounded by the coronavirus pandemic and the shutdowns, and this seems to put the responsibility to pay for it on our families and small businesses,” Thomas said. “I wish I had heard some indication on how we can work together to improve vaccine distribution. Our state ranks 44th in effective protection of our citizens from this pandemic. We can and should be doing better.”
