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Tom Wolf on Tax Reform

 

 


Schools need sustainable funding source, not cigarette tax

Following Gov. Corbett's decision to advance funds to the Philadelphia School District and urge legislators to pass the cigarette tax, Tom Wolf released the following statement:

After four years of underfunding our schools, Governor Corbett is playing political games while still avoiding the tough decisions. The funding announced today is only an advance on money already owed; it is not a restoration of the funding Governor Corbett has taken from our schools, and it does nothing to close the Philadelphia School District's $81 million budget gap. Without new, sustainable funding, more than 1,000 school district employees are at risk of losing their jobs, class sizes will increase, and children will return to schools that the superintendent has described as unsafe.

Philadelphia schools should never have been placed in a position where they have to rely on cash advances and cigarette taxes, but Governor Corbett's complete mismanagement has forced the school district into turmoil.

Source: 2014 Gubernatorial campaign website press release, WolfForPA , Aug 6, 2014

Shift income tax burden to higher earners

All four Democratic candidates would seek to impose a severance tax on natural gas extraction--though the amounts they would choose differ--and expand the reach of the corporate net income tax by requiring combined reporting.