The Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center - Email Alert: Critical Vote this Week to Preserve State Services
The Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center - Email Alert: Critical Vote this Week to Preserve State Services
From the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center:
Leaders in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives are planning a vote this week on a revenue package that will prevent deep cuts to education, health care and other human services by ending tax loopholes and special tax preferences.
The last time we asked you to call your state lawmakers, you did - and it made a difference! But we still don't have all the votes for this measure, which includes a natural gas severance tax and a new levy on smokeless tobacco.
We need your help! If you haven't done so already, call your legislators and ask them to support closing tax loopholes and ending special tax breaks in order to preserve critical state services:
Find your House member by county or zip code
Access an alphabetical list of House members
Access a list of House members by county
THEN SEND THEM AN EMAIL
Together we can preserve vital state services by closing loopholes and ending special tax breaks.
Without Federal Aid for Health Care, Pennsylvania Will Lose Jobs!
Last month, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a jobs bill after stripping out a six-month extension of federal assistance to states for health care costs, known as the FMAP extension. The loss of these funds could open an additional $850 million gap in Pennsylvania's 2010 - 2011 state budget - on top of a current fiscal year shortfall of $1.2 billion.
Send a message to your members of Congress! As the House and Senate negotiate a final bill, it is critical that the six-month FMAP extension is restored. Please take a minute to tell your member of Congress that the FMAP extension must be in the final bill. Without it, Pennsylvania could see as many as 25,000 layoffs, which would set back our fragile economic recovery.
Read more about the FMAP extension. Then send an email to your member of Congress. You can also sign on to a letter to Senators Casey and Specter in support of the FMAP extension.
Time to Close the Loopholes
PBPC unveiled the first part of a series today calling for an end to tax loopholes and special tax preferences in Pennsylvania. Today's installment focuses on cigars and smokeless tobacco.
Pennsylvania is only one of two states in the union without an excise tax on cigars and the only one without a tax on other products like snuff and chewing tobacco. Read more about this special tax preference - and check back regularly throughout June as we chronicle Pennsylvania's tax loopholes and keep you updated on the latest budget developments out of Harrisburg.
The Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center is a non-partisan policy research project that provides independent, credible analysis on state tax, budget and related policy matters, with attention to the impact of current or proposed policies on working families. Learn more: www.pennbpc.org.