Thursday, June 15, 2006
Tax Reform Travesty
Pennsylvania continues to slouch toward the French economic disease. A disorder wherein narrow but strong special interests dictate public policies that are inimical to the welfare of the population as a whole. June 14, 2006 brought the latest example of the perfidious pandering of the Pennsylvania Legislature, namely a property tax relief plan that will borrow $200 million from the Lottery fund to provide some tax reductions and rent rebates for low-income residents over the age of 65. Otherwise the package is devoid of meaningful change. The so-called backend referendum requirement is so full of exemptions that it will never result in voters having a say about their taxes.
This is a travesty foisted on Pennsylvania to allow officials to pander to seniors--the state’s biggest voting bloc. Disgraceful hardly begins to describe the Legislature’s action.
There is little or no help for middle-income homeowners and nothing for commercial property owners.
It is a big win for the Governor who can now claim that he has fulfilled a campaign promise to bring major tax relief. The stupefying part is that the leadership in the House of Representatives went along with this bill. It is worse than nothing. There will be no need to revisit this issue for quite some time once the Governor signs the bill into law. As a result, meaningful property tax relief in Pennsylvania has been put on a very cold backburner.
If the House vote truly represents the will of the people of Pennsylvania, the state must reconcile itself to being an economic also ran forever.
This is a travesty foisted on Pennsylvania to allow officials to pander to seniors--the state’s biggest voting bloc. Disgraceful hardly begins to describe the Legislature’s action.
There is little or no help for middle-income homeowners and nothing for commercial property owners.
It is a big win for the Governor who can now claim that he has fulfilled a campaign promise to bring major tax relief. The stupefying part is that the leadership in the House of Representatives went along with this bill. It is worse than nothing. There will be no need to revisit this issue for quite some time once the Governor signs the bill into law. As a result, meaningful property tax relief in Pennsylvania has been put on a very cold backburner.
If the House vote truly represents the will of the people of Pennsylvania, the state must reconcile itself to being an economic also ran forever.
