Reps. Bryan Cutler, Kerry Benninghoff and Stan Saylor: Helping Pennsylvanians means putting taxpayers first

Next week, Gov. Tom Wolf will deliver his eighth and final budget address, and already it is clear that Pennsylvanians will again have offered to them higher taxes, higher energy costs and more irresponsible spending ideas that will set the commonwealth up for a disastrous financial future.

As a result, Pennsylvania taxpayers will again come face-to-face with the real fiscal legacy of this administration — a total lack of concern over the state’s limited financial resources in pursuit of a national progressive agenda that would be unnecessarily punitive to Pennsylvania families.

The governor has not been alone in his pursuit, and for the better part of a decade, each of his unrealistic policy proposals, each tax increase, and each wild spending idea has been supported by his Democratic allies in the General Assembly.

Over the last seven years of Wolf’s and legislative Democrats’ tax-and-spend approach to budgeting, including the last two unprecedented pandemic years, Republicans have been the line of defense against progressive fiscal policies that would squander taxpayer resources at the expense of national Democratic talking points and take more hard-earned money from the pockets of Pennsylvania’s families.

During that same period, House Republicans have moved this commonwealth forward by increasing our investment in both public education and school choice initiatives; delivering on historic pension reform legislation; and fighting for front-line workers, small businesses, families, and students in the wake of this governor’s unilateral pandemic-era rule.

Even in the last two challenging budgets, which have been propped up by federal taxpayer dollars, Republicans have been able to responsibly grow our commonwealth by prudently investing federal dollars into long-term care facilities, funding critical transportation infrastructure projects, and keeping enough money in reserves that forecasted deficits and declining General Fund revenues will not cost the taxpayers in future years.

By contrast, Wolf and his Democratic allies have only put forward the largest cradle-to-grave tax increases in Pennsylvania history and proposals that will increase the cost for Pennsylvania families to heat their homes to fuel their desired unchecked spending regardless of the economic circumstances.

Sprinkled in between revisionist history and a call for higher taxes and more spending, it is likely we will hear that the governor says he wants to do things like lower the Corporate Net Income Tax, we should view these hollow concepts with caution.

Remember, this is the same administration and same Democratic legislative leaders that shut down businesses and closed schools and then turned around and proposed increasing your personal income taxes. After years of the same old song and dance from this administration and Democratic legislative leaders, Pennsylvanians should have no faith that their tune this year is genuinely any different.

The proposals by the governor and Democratic leaders were developed in a fiscal fantasy land where concern for future fiscal years apparently doesn’t exist. Of course, this can be expected from a lame duck governor in his final year.

It is also important to point out that spending made in one year then becomes the baseline for the next year and then future years. It is irresponsible to say increasing spending by significant levels today will be paid for without tax increases in the future. All spending decisions become baked in and can never be rolled back.

That said, we do welcome partnership in trying to prudently use taxpayer resources to move Pennsylvania ahead. Our recent bipartisan investment in health care facilities and front-line health care workers shows that when we work together to make solid and reasonable investments that are the result of sound financial planning, we can do great things for Pennsylvanians.

Ultimately, what Pennsylvanians deserve are financial fiduciaries that understand how to grow an economy while managing limited resources. It is intentional investment, targeted growth, and prudent planning that will truly help Pennsylvanians—not more unchecked spending fueled by more taxes.

As we work constructively to conclude next year’s budget over the coming weeks and months, House Republicans will continue to do what we always have: put taxpayers first, keep our commitment to Pennsylvania students and families, and maintain a manageable financial position so we can responsibly grow Pennsylvania for years to come.

House Speaker Bryan Cutler represents the District 100 in Lancaster County. House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff represents District 171, portions of Centre and Mifflin counties. Rep. Stan Saylor is chair of the House Appropriations Committee and represents District 94, a portion of York County. All are Republicans.