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Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf unveiled his budget proposal this week, delivering his state of the state address before a joint session of the state legislature. Wolf’s proposal would largely shift the responsibility for funding public education from local property taxes to the state sales and income tax. The flat personal income tax rate would increase from 3.07 to 3.7 percent, and the sales tax rate would rise from 6 to 6.6 percent and would apply to additional goods and services. These changes would bring in an additional $3.9 billion in general fund revenue, most of which would be dedicated to reducing property tax bills by an average of $1,000 per household. About $540 million in new revenues would go to public schools and universities. Wolf also proposed a new severance tax on oil and gas extraction that would replace the state’s one-time impact fee on drilling new wells, with new revenues also earmarked to public education. In a bid to gain bipartisan support, Wolf also proposed significant corporate income tax cuts paid for by closing loopholes and continuing former Gov. Tom Corbett’s plan to phase out the state’s capital stock and franchise tax. (Stay tuned to the Tax Justice Blog for our take on the plan.)
Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley presented his budget proposal to the state legislature this week under the cloud of a $700 million deficit. The governor proposed $541 million in tax increases across eight areas, including the corporate and individual income taxes, excise taxes on tobacco products, and sales and rental taxes for cars. The cigarette tax would increase by 82.5 cents per pack, with commensurate increases for other tobacco products, bringing in $205 million in additional revenue. Increasing the tax rate on automobile sales and rentals from 2 to 4 percent would increase revenues by $231 million. The governor’s finance director assured legislators that the proposed changes would still leave Alabama near the bottom in rankings of tax revenues per capita, but Bentley’s plan will do little to address the regressive nature of the state’s tax system. (Stay tuned to the Tax Justice Blog for our take on the plan.)
Florida Gov. Rick Scott was the third governor to give a state of the state address today, pitching a combination of tax cuts and spending increases to leery legislators. Scott touted his “Keep Florida Working” budget proposal, which includes $673 million in tax cuts from a variety of sources, including the tax on communication services, sales taxes on college textbooks, and taxes on businesses and manufacturers. The bulk of the cuts — $470.9 million in lost revenue – come from decreasing the tax rate on communication services (cell phones, cable, and satellite television) by 3.6 percent. Scott also pushed for more education funding and a tuition freeze on postgraduate education at state universities.
A new report from the North Carolina Budget and Tax Center reveals that tax cuts pushed by Gov. Pat McCrory (who is expected to release his budget plan this week) and the state legislature have hurt economic growth by starving the state of needed revenues. According to the report, if tax levels in the state were at pre-recession levels, North Carolina would have $3.2 billion additional dollars to invest in early childhood education, access to higher education, anti-poverty measures for senior citizens, affordable health care, wage subsidy programs and court access. The Budget and Tax Center also points out that even though middle- and low-income families saw their overall tax responsibility increase, the massive cuts for wealthy individuals left the state with an annual $1 billion budget gap.
States Starting Session This Week:
Alabama (Tuesday)
Florida (Tuesday)
State of the State Addresses This Week:
Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley (watch here)
Florida Gov. Rick Scott (watch here)
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf (watch here)
Governors’ Budgets Released This Week:
Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley (read here)
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf (read here)
North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory (Thursday)