Pa. House Votes Down Governor’s Tax Proposals

Gov. Tom Wolf’s tax proposal is being debated in the state House of Representatives in the first-term Democrat’s effort to break Pennsylvania’s 3-month-old budget impasse.

It was a departure from how the governor had previously referred to the tax vote.

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Wolf had proposed the tax package on Tuesday, after Republican leaders who now control both chambers of the Legislature offered him a floor vote to demonstrate whether there was support for his approach.

Republican Dave Reed, the House majority leader, said the House has chosen a path forward.

Revised: Impose new 3.5 percent tax on value of Marcellus Shale production, plus 4.7 cents per 1,000 cubic feet produced.

But Wolf said nothing is off the table, and he framed the vote as a win for Democrats.

The immediate next steps will probably involve a renewed attempt at negotiating out the remaining differences in the budget stalemate.

Time is of the essence.

Governor Wolf unveiled his revised proposal on Monday at a power point presentation where he said the GOP proposed budget that he vetoed this summer as all “smoke and mirrors” and “gimmicks” that did not raise enough revenue to head off a projected two to three billion dollar deficit. Negotiators need to close that $600 million gap. The income tax and severance tax rates are lower than the original budget proposal.

Then-candidate for Pennsylvania governor Tom Wolf, left, and Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli, right, walk with Bethlehem Mayor Bob Donchez on October. 21, 2014, along Main Street in Bethlehem.

Republicans opposed that plan.

Republicans and Democrats disagreed about what the vote proved, and shared no specific plans for finalizing a state budget that is now 100 days late.

But if Wednesday’s post-game reactions revealed anything, it’s that that next meeting still might require an interpreter, too.