Pennsylvania Capitol by Joseph is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
The negotiations for Pennsylvania’s budget, which have prolonged for two months past the July 1 deadline, appear to have no end in sight as Democrat remain adamant on spending increases.
The deadlock between House Democrats and Senate Republicans comes after Senate Republicans passed a $47.6 billion budget—that Democrats failed to take up.
Both parties disagree on the issue of funding the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority (SEPTA), as well as education spending. While the Republican plan ensures that transport remains funded by using existing taxpayer dollars, Democrats want to create another tax-and-spend plan that takes money out of the pockets of taxpayers and puts it into government coffers.
The Democrat tax plan currently incudes taxes on cannabis, skill games for gambling, as well as redirecting the sales tax towards transit funding. However, lawmakers in recent weeks have proposed the idea of a rideshare tax on companies such as Uber. The proposed plan would tax citizens who choose to use alternative methods of transportation, at the expense of a transit system that has fallen into mismanagement in recent years.
The deeper issues at hand behind the SEPTA all relate to various union agreements that prevent flexible negotiations from moving forward. SEPTA’s largest employee union, Transport Local Workers 234, has a history of threatening strikes at the expense of both riders and taxpayers. Despite a recent 5% increase in funding for staff and pensions, unions have gone to Harrisburg to request even more money. State subsidies to SEPTA have already tripled in recent years, and will continue to grow, even as passenger revenue has dropped 20%. That means taxpayers are paying far more for far less service.
Senate Republicans are correct to stand on principle and ask SEPTA to manage its budget before asking taxpayers for more dollars. Even though Gov. Josh Shapiro has repeatedly tried to attack Republicans for advocating for taxpayers, it must be reinforced that Pennsylvania Democrats do not have a solution. Tax hikes are simply not the answer. More taxes and spending will only make today’s problems even worse tomorrow.