HARRISBURG – Working families, job creators and energy consumers in Pennsylvania would see their taxes reduced by approximately $3 billion a year under a bill approved by the Senate today, according to Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward (R-39), Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman (R-41) and Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Scott Martin (R-13).
Senate Bill 269 would reduce the Personal Income Tax (PIT) rate from 3.07 percent to 2.8 percent, putting more money in the wallets of every Pennsylvanian who earns a paycheck. The bill would also eliminate the Gross Receipts Tax on energy, effective on January 1, 2025, providing critical relief from high energy costs.
The strong, bipartisan, veto-proof legislation would represent the largest tax cut for working families in our Commonwealth’s history, saving taxpayers more than $13 billion over the next five years.
The tax cuts would benefit all Pennsylvania families and inject an additional $3 billion into the state’s economy, rather than growing government and arbitrarily picking winners and losers. The plan is a sharp contrast from Governor Shapiro’s calls for $3.2 billion in new government spending, as well as legislation introduced by House Democrats to nearly quadruple certain taxes paid by small businesses.
Senate Republican leaders stressed that the tax cuts are a continuation of their longstanding efforts to protect taxpayers against unnecessary tax increases, new spending and unchecked growth in the size of government.
“The Senate Republican Caucus’s top priority has been and continues to be strengthening Pennsylvania by positioning and empowering Pennsylvanians, their families and their businesses to succeed. Not only did the Senate Republican Caucus lead the way in helping to provide relief for families by establishing the Child Care Tax Credit, but we also increased it. The Senate Republican Caucus also ensured that thousands of elderly and disabled individuals in Pennsylvania could now meet the requirements for assistance through the property tax and rent rebate program, resulting in seniors experiencing the most significant tax reductions in 20 years. We also set Pennsylvania businesses up to stay, grow and establish themselves in the state by reducing the corporate net income tax from one of the highest rates in the nation to the lowest. Today, we take the next step in our relief efforts, by directly returning money to Pennsylvania families by taking steps to reduce the personal income tax by nearly 10%. This budget season we will we continue to prioritize Pennsylvanians families starting with a $3 billion tax cut,” Ward said.
“As we go through budget negotiations, and the push and pull of wherever we may end up, our Senate Republican Caucus is going to continue to fight for Pennsylvania taxpayers, first and foremost. There has been a lot of discussion about $3 billion of additional spending. Our point of view is if we’re going to invest $3 billion, we should invest it back into the taxpayers. We fundamentally believe when you allow taxpayers and consumers of electricity to keep more of what they earn, they can best decide how to reinvest that into our economy. Lower tax structures help to further grow an economy, and in this case, would lift all boats,” Pittman said.
“Putting this money back in the pockets of consumers, taxpayers and job-creators is the best and fairest way to address the challenges we face. Rather than increasing the size of government and picking winners and losers with massive new spending and programs, we are investing money in all Pennsylvanians and sending a strong signal that our Commonwealth is open for business,” Martin said.
Senate Bill 269 was sent to the House of Representatives for consideration.
CONTACTS:
Erica Clayton Wright ewright@pasen.gov (Sen. Ward)
Kate Flessner kflessner@pasen.gov (Sen. Pittman)
Jason Thompson jthompson@pasen.gov (Sen. Martin)
