Municipal Pension Woes Becoming A Bigger Issue
Conservatives: Tell Wolf You Can’t Afford His Tax Plan
Click Here for Today's PA Environmental News
Conservatives: Tell Wolf You Can’t Afford His Tax Plan
April 26, 2015
April 25, 2015
April 24, 2015
April 27 PA Environment Digest Now Available
The April 27 PA Environment Digest is now available. Here are just a few of the headlines--
The Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee is scheduled to hold confirmation hearings for Acting DCNR Secretary Cindy Dunn May 13 and for Acting DEP Secretary John Quigley on June 2.
The Chesapeake Bay Foundation-PA says Senate Bill 724 (Vogel-R-Beaver) threatens to derail current clean water restoration efforts and divert critical funding from proven science-based practices, while favoring proprietary, corporate-backed and costly manure technologies.
Many people have asked why Bion Environmental Technologies, the company who wrote and is heavily promoting Senate Bill 724 (Vogel-R-Beaver) as a solution to reducing pollution to meet Pennsylvania’s commitments to the Chesapeake Bay cleanup, has been pushing so hard for the last three years to have the General Assembly pass Senate Bill 724.
The answer is simple-- it has no revenue stream to pay back a 2010 $7.7 million PennVEST loan for its only facility in Pennsylvania, a manure treatment facility in Lancaster County.
In fact, PennVEST said it has not made a payment since January 2013. Coincidentally, Senate Bill 724’s predecessor-- Senate Bill 994-- was introduced in June of that year.
Bion told PennVEST in writing the state has to change its rules to allow it to have the money to pay back the loan, and it has been trying to do just that by writing Senate Bill 724 and pushing the bill relentlessly for two legislative sessions.
Bion has been working with PennVEST to identify a revenue stream to pay back the loan, but so far the only idea it has is for the General Assembly to enact Senate Bill 724 and have taxpayers foot the bill.
Here’s the background.
By Harry Campbell, Pennsylvania Office Director, Chesapeake Bay Foundation
Amid budget discussions about a natural gas severance tax, increasing personal income and sales taxes, escalating education spending, and infusing distressed pensions, Rep. Garth Everett (R-Lycoming) wanted to know how the new Wolf Administration plans to meet Pennsylvania’s obligation for cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay.
The Senate Environmental Resources and Energy and Finance Committees are scheduled to hold a joint hearing on natural gas severance tax proposals on June 1. There are 5 severance tax bills pending in the Senate, two Republican and three Democrat--
Scott Perry, DEP Deputy Secretary for Oil and Gas Management, told the DEP Citizens Advisory Council on Tuesday the agency may explore other funding options to support DEP’s oil and gas regulatory program since applications for new oil and gas permits have declined by about 30 percent so far this year.
Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful Tuesday announced it is now applications for 25 grants of up to $1,000 to be awarded to organizations in three focus areas of Prevent It, Clean It or Keep It for cleanup and beautification projects.
KPB Affiliates and other tax-exempt groups across the Commonwealth are eligible. Applications are due May 22.
To read the Digest, visit: www.PaEnvironmentDigest.com. Click Here to print the entire Digest.
PA Environment Digest is edited by David E. Hess, former Secretary Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, and is published as a service of Crisci Associates.
PA Environment Digest was the winner of the PA Association of Environmental Educators' 2009 Business Partner of the Year Award.
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Questions?: Send email to David Hess at: DHess@CrisciAssociates.com
April 23, 2015
IFO Says Wolf’s Budget Proposal Will Result In Net Higher Taxes For All Income Groups
The Independent Fiscal Office Thursday issued its required analysis of Gov. Wolf’s budget proposal saying all income groups will see higher taxes if the proposed package with higher income residents paying significantly more if his budget is enacted.
“(T)he analysis finds that high-income residents will bear most of the economic incidence of tax changes that are not exported to non-residents or offset by the federal tax system. The top two income groups with income above $100,000 bear nearly two-thirds of the tax incidence. By contrast, those with income below $50,000 bear roughly one-tenth of the tax incidence.
“Despite significant property tax and rent relief, the low-income group realizes increases in tobacco and sales taxes, and modest increases in personal income and severance tax through higher utility prices. For the highest income group, property tax relief is offset by higher sales and personal income taxes. For that income group, the personal income tax amount ($658 million) includes a federal income tax offset of $200 million.”
Rep. Bill Adolph (R-Delaware), Majority Chair of the House Appropriations Committee, reacted to the report saying, “The IFO’s report on the governor’s proposed tax increases is a telling portrayal of how the governor’s massive tax increases will force all Pennsylvania taxpayers to pay more for everything from day care, nursing home care, utilities, newspapers and more, yet fail to deliver on the net tax decreases promised by the governor.
“The report makes a particularly important observation when it says ‘[t]he analysis finds a net tax increase for all groups, including a small net increase for the lowest income group.’ This is significant because it directly contradicts claims made by the governor in his budget speech on March 3 and reiterated again and again during our budget hearings by his top staff.
“The governor told Pennsylvania residents: ‘My budget actually reduces the total tax burden on average middle-class homeowners by 13 percent.’ The IFO’s analysis shows taxpayers that when taken as a whole, the governor’s proposed budget is a huge tax grab that increases state spending by 16 percent and fails to deliver on the promises of net tax reductions being touted by the governor.
“As we work to get a sustainable budget signed into law by June 30, we owe it to the taxpayers of Pennsylvania to be completely transparent about how they will be impacted by the issues we address Harrisburg.”
A copy of the IFO report is available online.NewsClip: Report Disputes Wolf’s Tax Break Claims
Thursday NewsClips
Home-Care Worker Issue Dominates Hearing On Human Services Nominee
Ahead Of Budget Talks, Wolf Says PA Faces Stark Fiscal Realities
Ahead Of Budget Talks, Wolf Says PA Faces Stark Fiscal Realities
Saylor Expects To Meet With Wolf On Property Taxes
PA Schools Are The Nation’s Most Inequitable
Call To Fund School In Event Of Budget Stalemate
PA Schools Are The Nation’s Most Inequitable
Call To Fund School In Event Of Budget Stalemate
Senate Will Pass Bills To Open Union Negotiations
Senate Committee OKs Bills For More Transparent State Labor Negotiations
Turzai, GOP Work Group Introduces Bills On Debt Reduction
Click Here for Today's PA Environmental News
Senate Committee OKs Bills For More Transparent State Labor Negotiations
Turzai, GOP Work Group Introduces Bills On Debt Reduction
April 22, 2015
Op-Ed: Protect PA Consumers By Regulating Online Gaming
By Rep. John Payne, Majority Chair
House Gaming Oversight Committee
Internet gaming is a growing business – right now millions of Americans, including many Pennsylvanians, are playing games of chance online.
But unlike visitors to Pennsylvania’s brick-and-mortar casinos, these players are at risk for fraud and abuse by unlicensed and unregulated offshore gambling sites operating outside the law.
That’s why I’ve introduced legislation to regulate the Internet gaming industry. If enacted, House Bill 649 will provide needed safeguards for consumers and generate new, much-needed revenue for the state at the same time.
Specifically, the measure would allow the state’s 12 existing casinos to expand their operations into online gaming with the purchase of a $5 million license. Operators would also pay a 14 percent tax to the state on proceeds, the same as for casinos.
A recent study released by a Philadelphia-based economic consulting firm estimates the newly expanded industry would generate approximately $120 million for Pennsylvania in the first year. These funds would help offset the state’s projected $2 billion budget deficit without levying new taxes on working Pennsylvanians.
This is a move that has proven successful in other states. Currently Internet gaming is legal in Nevada, New Jersey and Delaware. These states have shown that the technology exists to regulate online games safely and effectively, while generating new tax revenue.
Regulating online gaming in Pennsylvania would require operators to incorporate responsible guidelines for Internet gambling into their overall compulsive and problem gambling plans, enable the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board to establish consumer protections, such as limits on time played, deposits and losses and prominent links to help lines and other gambling resources on online gaming websites.
It would require state-of-the-art technologies and “Know Your Customer” practices to ensure minors can’t gamble.
If enacted, my proposal would also ban unlicensed operators in the state, and impose hefty fines on illegal sites. In addition to creating a legal, safe Internet gambling alternative, these measures will help drive illegal operators out of the Pennsylvania market.
Enacting my legislation would also help make Pennsylvania casinos more competitive, and prevent the loss of customers over state lines. When Pennsylvania licensed its first casinos in 2004, the only local competition came from Atlantic City. Now there are casinos in most of our neighboring states, including Delaware, Maryland, Ohio, New York and West Virginia.
Expanding the business to the Internet would help to grow Pennsylvania’s gaming industry for the future, as research shows online gaming patrons become new visitors to casinos.
This move would strengthen an industry that’s proven to reap economic benefits for the state.
To date, legalized gambling has created 15,000 new jobs in Pennsylvania, generated significant property tax relief and spurred economic development. This legislation will help ensure the future growth of the industry and cement Pennsylvania’s place as a top competitor in the field.
One of the main reasons I am authoring this legislation is if Internet gaming is legalized, the new law would implement cutting-edge safeguards to bar minors from those sites.
Recent advances in player verification and geolocation technology have enabled states like Nevada, New Jersey and Delaware to successfully exclude underage players online. Under my proposal, only Pennsylvania adults over the age of 21 would be able to access online games offered by the state’s casinos.
Nearly 2,000 years ago, the Roman philosopher Seneca said that luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. By enacting effective state policy today, we can help prepare Pennsylvania’s gaming industry for the future, protect consumers and seize the opportunity to safely meet consumer demand and generate new revenue for the Commonwealth.
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