by Christin Brown | June 30, 2015 | News Releases
HARRISBURG, June 30, 2015 – State Sen. Christine M. Tartaglione today voted against the Republican state budget proposal for 2015-2016, saying it falls far short of the needed investments in education, workers and taxpayers.
“Many people believed we were heading in a new and better direction when the voters elected Tom Wolf to replace Tom Corbett,” Tartaglione said, “but the nightmare Corbett budget strategies continue.
“Voters overwhelmingly said they want someone who better understands the need to invest in our children and their education, to increase the minimum wage for people working in poverty, and to finally adopt an impactful property tax reform bill.
“Instead, we received a steamrolled Republican budget that looks too much like the past Corbett budgets, and all of Pennsylvania should shiver thinking about how this will continue to hold us back,” the senator said.
“I’ve heard Republican lawmakers say they, too, were granted a mandate because they increased their majorities in the House and Senate during the November election, but let me remind them that they merely enjoyed the fruits of their partisan redistricting efforts.
“This sham budget is not what Philadelphians and Pennsylvanians want or need,” Tartaglione said.
The Philly Democrat said the budget proposal heading to Gov. Wolf should include a significant natural gas extraction tax, a minimum wage increase to $10.10 an hour, liquor modernization (not a sell-off), less dependence on one-time budget tricks, and the restoration of the basic education funds that were siphoned away from school teachers and students for the past four years.
“Gov. Wolf has promised a veto, and I am waiting to see that happen,” Tartaglione said. “Once it does happen, House and Senate Democrats – who were blocked from contributing to this budget bill – will make sure a better job is done to be more equitable to Philadelphians and everyone in the commonwealth.”
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by Christin Brown | June 2, 2015 | News Releases
HARRISBURG, June 2, 2015 – The statewide foundation that helps Pennsylvanians with disabilities improve the quality of their lives with assistive technologies won the promise of Sen. Christine M. Tartaglione today to work for a greater state investment in the organization.
The Pennsylvania Assistive Technology Foundation provides low-interest loans to people with disabilities. Since its founding in 2002, the group has approved more than 2,500 lines of credit totaling more than $33 million. More than 200 people were approved for more than $1.3 million in loans in 2014.
“I know how important the Pennsylvania Assistive Technology Foundation is,” said Sen. Tartaglione, who was partially paralyzed in a 2003 boating accident.
“I know what a chair rail is. I know how important that lift is to give me that independence to help me get outside of my home. My freedom is something I could never fathom to lose,” she said.
PATF helps people of all ages, incomes and disabilities buy assistive technologies like adapted vehicles, wheelchairs, and home modifications – and pay back the money through one of two programs:
Assistive devices that cost more than $1,500 can be had with a 3.75 percent loan. If the cost is less, PATF offers a zero-percent mini-loan that carries a $20 monthly payment.
“This is one of my first budget requests because I know how important it is for PATF to continue providing the good services they have been providing for 13 years,” Tartaglione said.
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by Christin Brown | July 1, 2013 | News Releases
HARRISBURG, June 30, 2013 — State Sen. Christine M. Tartaglione today voted against a Republican-backed budget plan that continues more than two years of economic backsliding and education failure.
“Pennsylvania has been sitting in the ditch watching the rest of the country drive past and the administration’s plan to get us moving is simply more of the same,” she said. “We’ve heard the same trite sound bites for two years but the facts are hard to ignore. This cynical and political approach to budgeting is not working.”
Two years after cutting $1 billion from Pennsylvania’s schools, the budget passed by the Senate today restores a meager $130 million, while dozens of schools teeter on the brink of bankruptcy.
“The plan to help Philadelphia schools will only serve to make sure that the schools will continue to operate on a razor’s edge for the foreseeable future,” Tartaglione said. “We need real leadership to resolve crises, not preserve them,”
Tartaglione was among the supporters of an alternate budget plan that included $212 million more for education, $125 million more for job creation along with support for small cities facing economic distress.
When they offered the plan several weeks ago, Senate Democrats said it would use funds generated from liquor modernization, savings created by expanding Medicaid, and a one-year hold on the phase-out of the Capital Stock and Franchise Tax to produce the revenue needed to invest in the state’s economy.
Some senators have seen the wisdom of that plan and Medicaid expansion passed the Senate on Saturday, while the budget plan that passed also contains a freeze on the Capitol Stock and Franchise Tax.
At Tartaglione’s request, the plan nearly doubles funding for assistive technology devices that help get Pennsylvanians with disabilities back into the workforce.
Tartaglione said the plan also includes funding for three new classes of state troopers and increases for the state court system.
“As long as we keep ignoring our failing education system, we have to make sure we train new police and expand our court system,” Tartaglione said. “That’s the bottom line with this budget.”
by Christin Brown | June 3, 2013 | News Releases
HARRISBURG, June 3, 2013 — State Sen. Christine M. Tartaglione today joined her Democratic colleagues in support of a budget alternative that improves funding for schools, social services and job creation while holding the line on broad-based taxes.
“Governor Corbett and House Republicans want Pennsylvanians to believe that the weakest among us must continue to suffer in order to balance a budget,” Tartaglione said. “The plan we presented today shows that by properly aligning priorities and using strategies that work, we can grow our economy through targeted investment while balancing the budget.
Tartaglione said the Democratic plan includes $212 million more for education, $125 million more for job creation along with support for small cities facing economic distress.
Senate Democrats would use policy changes to produce a spending plan that overcomes budget challenges such as the estimated $360 million revenue deficit, caucus leaders said at a news conference today. Their budget alternative uses funds generated from liquor modernization, savings created by expanding Medicaid, and a one-year hold on the phase-out of the Capital Stock and Franchise Tax to produce the revenue needed to invest in the state’s economy.
“This budget gives the administration a clear choice between favoring corporations or supporting the working families of Pennsylvania,” Tartaglione said. “It ends the false choices and the dire predictions of the far right wing and provides a shared-pain approach.”
At Tartaglione’s request, the plan nearly doubles funding for assistive technology devices that help get Pennsylvanians with disabilities back into the workforce and fully restores the New Choices/ New Options program, which helps train displaced homemakers for new careers.
Tartaglione said the plan also includes $9 million to train 300 State Troopers and $8 million to combat gang violence, illegal firearms and drugs. The proposal also includes $39 million in new funds for distressed schools, an additional $50 million for Accountability Block Grants and other classroom assistance for a total of $150 million plus $84 million for a Charter Development Program.
by Christin Brown | May 9, 2012 | News Releases
HARRISBURG, May 9, 2012 – State Sen. Christine M . Tartaglione today praised the thousands of civic activists, educators and social service providers who traveled to Harrisburg over the past two months for helping Senate Democrats force changes in state budget priorities.
“The budget framework passed in the Senate today still falls short of meeting the goals of job creation and protecting vulnerable families,” she said. “But it’s a sign that people are being heard.”
The $27.7 billion spending plan proposed by Senate Republicans today restores $500 million of the shortsighted cuts proposed by Gov. Tom Corbett, but still leaves many working families without access to affordable child care or health insurance.
Tartaglione, who sits on the Senate Appropriations Committee, said the proposal represents a positive shift in the budget debate as Senate Democrats were given an opportunity to provide significant input about their ideas and priorities.
Majority Republicans rejected a series of Democratic amendments that would have used available revenue to restore additional amounts for cash assistance, adultBasic, human services, Accountability Block Grants and child-care services.
Tartaglione voted to approve the budget bill on final passage with the intention of continuing the progress toward a budget that includes new ideas and shared sacrifice.
“While progress is refreshing, the people we heard in the Rotunda and on the steps of the Capitol since the governor’s budget address should continue making their voices heard,” Tartaglione said. “We have a long way to go.”
by Christin Brown | April 3, 2012 | News Releases
HARRISBURG, April 3, 2012 – State Sen. Christine M. Tartaglione joined Senate Democratic colleagues at a Capitol news conference today calling on the Corbett administration to focus budget priorities on jobs and working families.
“Last year’s budget and this year’s proposal put a heavy burden on Pennsylvania’s vulnerable families while large corporations reap the rewards of their political support,” Tartaglione said. “The governor’s priorities have resulted in stagnant employment, spiking property taxes and insolvent school districts. There is still time to shift direction.”
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Tartaglione is the prime sponsor of Senate Bill 679, which would require “combined reporting” for businesses in Pennsylvania and close the “Delaware Loophole.”
“Working families and small businesses are paying the price for the administration’s hands-off approach to corporate taxes,” Tartaglione said.
In addition to combined reporting, Senate Democrats have identified numerous ways the state could raise additional revenue to invest in infrastructure, schools and job creation.
Tartaglione said Senate Democrats would like to add at least $250 million into Accountability Block Grants and higher education along with another $225 million in job creation strategies that include research and development. Senate Democrats are renewing their call to refocus unused cash in the Commonwealth Financing Authority (CFA) for job creation.
by Christin Brown | February 21, 2012 | News Releases
HARRISBURG, Feb. 21, 2011 – Sen. Christine Tartaglione today questioned Pennsylvania’s revenue secretary over why corporate tax loopholes aren’t drawing the same attention as consumers who make purchases on line.
“The governor’s going after getting the Internet loophole closed, which affects individual taxpayers, yet he’s not willing to go after a corporate loophole which affects big business and that’s very sad,” Tartaglione told Revenue Secretary Dan Meuser.
In testimony before the Senate Appropriations Committee today, Meuser outlined his department’s plans to force Pennsylvania taxpayers to report Internet purchases from all of 2011 and remit unpaid sales or use tax before the April tax deadline. Under the plan, taxpayers will be required to remember Internet purchases from 2011 and remit the six percent use tax.
But nearly eight years after Pennsylvania’s Business Tax Reform Commission recommended closing the Delaware loophole for corporate income taxes, and nine months after Tartaglione wrote to Meuser about the growing number of Pennsylvana gas drillers with Delaware subsidiaries, the secretary could not detail action taken to enforce tax laws on businesses.
Despite testifying that “companies go way out of their way to avoid paying our tax level,” Meuser said “solutions are being evaluated.”
“Why don’t we just close the Delaware loophole?” Tartaglione asked.
“That discussion certainly has been going on for a while,” the secretary replied. “We’re very focused on it. We’ll see what comes along.”
Tartaglione said the imbalance in tax enforcement is troubling.
“It’s difficult to imagine what is being evaluated,” Tartaglione said. “We have an extensive tax commission report nearly eight years old, and 23 states have already adopted combined reporting to close the Delaware loophole. If the administration would apply the same level of enforcement to corporations as it is to consumers, we could restore hundreds of millions of dollars in budget cuts.”
Tartaglione is the prime sponsor of Senate Bill 679, which would require “combined reporting” for businesses in Pennsylvania to close the “Delaware Loophole.”
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by Christin Brown | February 7, 2012 | News Releases
HARRISBURG, February 7, 2011 – State Sen. Christine M. Tartaglione today released the following statement regarding the governor’s budget address:
“The budget outlined by the governor today is the result of his long-held and unsupportable distrust of struggling families and an equally inexplicable and unsustainable trust of large corporations.
This shortsighted plan, and many other actions during the first year of this administration, put the blame for economic stagnation on low and middle income workers and give them a disproportionate share of the burden of fixing it.
While Pennsylvania families are being scrutinized for their on-line purchases, their savings and their desire to find work, corporations are being blindly trusted about their income taxes, their commitment to job creation and their concern about the environment.
It’s unlikely that the budget proposed will be the budget passed. But starting the conversation with dramatic cuts to education as Pennsylvania school districts face insolvency and the cost of college rises above the grasp of middle-income families, means that the administration has lost faith in the next generation.
As we go forward, I urge the governor to understand that he represents all of the people in Pennsylvania, from the neighborhoods of North Philadelphia to the rural hilltops dotted with gas wells. The people from my district will have plenty to say about this budget. I urge the administration to listen.
Over the next few months, the families raising that generation will have to prove that they deserve our confidence and our investment in their children and in their communities. This administration does not trust them.
Today’s high school students will have to prove that they deserve the same support for higher education that their elder siblings and their parents received. This administration does not trust them.
School districts will have to prove that early childhood education is a better investment than prisons.
If the governor has his way, Pennsylvania small businesses will continue to bear the burden of high corporate income taxes and will continue in their struggle to compete with big box retailers who enjoy the benefits of one of the world’s most notorious tax loopholes.
It is this fundamental mixture trust and distrust, expressed first by candidate Corbett 18 months ago when he said the unemployed “would rather just sit there” than work, that marks this administration’s vision of Pennsylvania.
Those of us with a different vision will have to prove ourselves. We will show the governor that we will not just sit there. We are ready to work.”
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by Christin Brown | June 30, 2011 | News Releases
HARRISBURG, June 30, 2011 – State Sen. Christine M. Tartaglione tonight offered an amendment to a key budget bill that would have prevented labor unrest at the Graterford Prison project.
“The Graterford project is an important project and its timely completion is critical to addressing the Commonwealth’s prison capacity needs,” Tartaglione told the Senate Rules Committee when offering her amendment to Senate Bill 907. “A project labor agreement is essential to guaranteeing that occurs.”
In 2008, the Department of General Services entered into a project labor agreement with labor organizations in southeastern Pennsylvania to ensure “labor peace and harmony through a no-strike, no lock out commitment by all involved personnel in order to meet the construction deadline.”
The agreement was later upheld by the state Supreme Court but, three months ago, Gov. Tom Corbett re-bid the project and nullified the PLA.
Despite the strong support of Democratic Leader Jay Costa of Allegheny County and Democratic Appropriations Chairman Vincent Hughes, of Philadelphia, the measure was defeated by a party-line vote.
“I’m grateful for the support of Senators Costa and Hughes who agreed that keeping everyone involved in the project working and resolving their differences without delays is the best way to ensure meeting the construction deadline,” Tartaglione said.
by Christin Brown | June 28, 2011 | News Releases
State Sen. Christine M. Tartaglione today released the following statement on the budget:
“Trying to spare wealthy corporations from any sacrifice during a difficult budget year, the governor and the majority have gutted programs that have been proven to be successful and cost effective. That kind of budgeting is shortsighted and lends itself more to glib sound bites than effective governing.
A key example is the absurd treatment of the Homeowners’ Emergency Mortgage Assistance Program (HEMAP), a model enterprise that has the strong support of the banking industry and been given a glowing review in Moody’s Weekly Credit Outlook.
The program has distributed more than $480 million in assistance on only $244 million in state appropriations while $260 million has been paid back to the program.
That simple math says the program is keeping families together, preserving communities, preventing blight and stabilizing the banking industry at no cost to taxpayers.
So, of course, this administration cut 80 percent of its funding.
It makes no sense.”
by Christin Brown | June 27, 2011 | News Releases
State Sen. Christine M. Tartaglione released the following statement about today’s budget vote in the Appropriations Committee:
“It’s been said many times that the state budget process is about choices. Sometimes, those choices are tough.
But the budget plan pushed through the Appropriations Committee today after unilateral negotiations is more about ignoring choices than making tough ones.
Teachers will be laid off and local property taxes will be going up across the state because the governor puts his promise to a lobbyist ahead of his obligation to education.
This budget is being promoted to protect large corporations that are intent on avoiding their obligations to other taxpayers.
More than half of the states that levy corporate income taxes have now adopted a ‘combined reporting’ requirement, making sure that corporations can’t form out-of-state shell companies to lower their state tax bills.
The Department of Revenue has estimated that combined reporting could recoup more than $500 million in lost tax revenue, enough to keep our teachers in their classrooms, protect hospitals and lower our highest-in-the-nation corporate net income tax.
Before the explosion of gas drilling in Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale, energy companies created hundreds of Delaware subsidiaries. Last year, 87 percent of drilling-related companies paid no corporate net income tax in Pennsylvania.
At the same time, laid off workers, struggling to recover from the recession, have gone back to work over the past 12 months and have contributed from their paychecks to a budget surplus that will hit $700 million by the middle of next week.
It is an insult to working families that the legislature and the governor will sit on that surplus and continue to let corporations play games with their tax bills and then claim we can’t afford to keep teachers in classrooms.
The same lawmakers who hyperventilate about $400 million in nebulous and unidentified welfare fraud have gone mute over $500 million in unpaid corporate income taxes.
That’s not making tough choices. That’s making a clear choice to ease the tax burden of multi-national corporations and dump it on the poor, the struggling and the sick.
If this budget is adopted, thousands of families across Pennsylvania will see property taxes go up as their children go back to school in more-crowded classrooms, while the state stashes their tax dollars and protects the profits wealthy corporations.
With tax policy that puts the burden on families, schools and hospitals, while giving a pass to energy and retail giants, it’s no wonder that Wall St. has recovered from the recession while working families continue to struggle.
Pennsylvania families should demand that their hard-earned dollars be used to educate their children, improve their communities and lower their local taxes.
This budget doesn’t do it.”
by Christin Brown | May 2, 2011 | News Releases
HARRISBURG, May 2, 2011 – The budget plan offered by House Republicans yesterday ignores obvious remedies for Pennsylvania’s budget problems and lopsided business –tax system, State Sen. Christine M. Tartaglione said today.
“It’s better than what Governor Corbett proposed, but barely,” Tartaglione said. “It’s the same song with a new arrangement: Cut the needy; save the greedy.”
The House GOP proposal fails to address the growing game of corporate tax-ducking, even as 85 percent of companies involved in the rapidly expanding Marcellus Shale gas industry pay no corporate income taxes.
“The insistence on preserving loopholes for big drillers and big retailers while cutting education and family programs is not just fundamentally wrong,” Tartaglione said. “It’s short-sighted economic policy that darkens the future in favor of hit-and-run energy profits.”
Tartaglione, who recently revealed the existence of hundreds of newly formed Delaware subsidiaries related to the gas industry, is the prime sponsor of Senate Bill 679, which would require “combined reporting” for businesses in Pennsylvania and close the “Delaware Loophole.”
“The combined reporting requirement simply targets corporations that are avoiding their tax obligation by using out-of-state mailboxes,” Tartaglione said. “We all want businesses to be successful and the economy to grow. The best way to get there is to create a business tax system that is fair to all businesses, big and small.”
Several years ago, the state Department of Revenue estimated that $400 million in corporate taxes could be recouped by adopting a combined reporting standard, as 23 states have already done. With the formation of hundreds of new Delaware subsidiaries, the revenue lost through the loophole could be dramatically rising, Tartaglione said.
by Christin Brown | April 14, 2011 | News Releases
Philadelphia– April 14, 2011 –State Sen. Christine M. Tartaglione joined Democratic colleagues today to announce a budget plan that underscores their budget priorities and includes $1.14 billion in total savings, new revenues and efficiencies.
At a news conference today at Temple University, Democrats offered the budget plan in response to Governor Tom Corbett’s proposal to make deep cuts in basic and higher education, social service funding, hospital funds, health care, job creation and county programs.
“This plan gives the legislature a viable choice to grow jobs as a way out of the recession, rather than cutting the lifeline to vulnerable Pennsylvanians and halting the progress we’ve made in education,” Tartaglione said. “It should be the start of a dialogue that will move us forward.”
The Democratic plan uses the funding generated from the cost savings, revenues and innovations to restore critical funding for basic and higher education, safety net programs, mortgage assistance and other vital programs.
The Senate Democratic plan includes savings, revenues and efficiencies of $1.14 billion:
- $750 million in savings from fiscal responsibility initiatives in Public Welfare, Corrections, procurement and maximizing revenues;
- $290 million in savings generated through a tax fairness plan that includes a Marcellus Shale tax levy but eliminates other tax breaks suggested by the governor;
- $100 million from higher state stores revenues.
Senate Democrats said the new revenue and savings can be used to restore key funding lines that were slashed in the Corbett budget plan. Senate Democrats would use the funds to:
- Restore basic and higher education funding to fiscal 2010-11 levels;
- Restore critical county programs such as the Human Services Development Fund;
- Save the HEMAP (Homeowners’ Emergency Mortgage Assistance Program) and mortgage foreclosure assistance programs;
- Ensure that the Tobacco Settlement funds are used for healthcare;
- Fund the adultBasic program with tobacco settlement dollars;
- Maintain core programs that create jobs and provide training.
Senate Democrats also pointed out that the revenue estimates included in the governor’s proposed budget were significantly under Senate Democratic estimates. The governor’s budget indicates that revenue surplus would be $78 million while Senate Democrats estimate year-end revenues at $300 million.
Democratic leaders also said state revenues would increase if more jobs were created. As a result, Senate Democrats have proposed a sweeping jobs plan called “PA Works” that would create jobs, leverage private funds and generate economic investment.
The news conference announcing the plan was immediately followed by a Senate Democratic Policy Committee roundtable discussion on job training legislation, a key component of PA
by Christin Brown | March 18, 2011 | News Releases
Philadelphia, March 18, 2011 — The Philadelphia Senate Delegation today held a discussion on the impact of the governor’s proposed 2011-12 budget plan on the Philadelphia region.
The senators, along with representatives from the mayor’s office, School District of Philadelphia, Temple and Cheney universities, and the Delaware Valley Healthcare Council of the Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania (HAP), talked about the consequences of the proposed budget cuts during a roundtable discussion at Temple University, which is slated to receive a 52 percent cut in state funding under the governor’s plan.
“We knew the governor would make cuts, but I think we were all surprised how deep the cuts were, especially to education,” said Kitchen (D-3rd dist.). “Although we are still in trying times, this budget is unfairly balanced on the backs of our most vulnerable citizens and our students, from pre-kindergarten through college.
“We have gathered together to have a serious talk about the fallout from the governor’s proposal so that we as legislators can bring suggestions and alternatives back to Harrisburg,” she said. “This will have a big impact on many people, so we need to find any way to ease the pain.”
“It makes cuts to the most vulnerable and needy citizens among us,” added Sen. Larry Farnese (D-1st dist.). “This budget does not share the pain, and we are leaving money on the table.”
Sen. Tina Tartaglione said the governor’s plan to ask union employees to make sacrifices while cutting programs and services that employ these workers is detrimental to the health of the state’s recovering economy.
“At a time when our economy is still fragile, we depend on our workforce to help move us forward. Many of them are already working under tight budgets and juggling more responsibilities,” said Tartaglione (D-2nd dist.). “I don’t understand why hard-working union employees are being asked to make more sacrifices, while large corporations are spared any ounce of fiscal pain. The governor said his budget was all about ‘jobs, jobs, jobs’ but all the union workers hear are ‘cuts, cuts, cuts.’”
Sen. LeAnna Washington also questioned the governor’s priorities. Corbett’s budget plan does not call for a severance tax on Marcellus Shale natural gas drillers.
“The governor does not have a moral right to give away our natural resources, then turn around and cut education and healthcare,” said Washington (D-4th dist.). “The people of Pennsylvania don’t understand, and don’t agree with these misplaced priorities.”
Sen. Vince Hughes said Pennsylvania’s ongoing successful education track record would be halted under the governor’s proposed cuts, including $550 million to basic education and $260 million to the Accountability Block Grant program, which funds all-day kindergarten in many school districts, including Philadelphia.
“We cannot retreat on Pennsylvania’s record of education success,” said Hughes (D-7th dist.), who is the Democratic chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. “Investments during the past decade have transformed Pennsylvania into a national education leader. We are here today to learn from these leaders firsthand the full impact of the proposed cuts.”
Sen. Mike Stack added that the 10 percent in cuts to community colleges hurt Pennsylvania’s improving but still shaky economic climate.
“Our community colleges are offering students an opportunity to get a quality and affordable education. Many of them are working adults who are unemployed or looking to boost their job skills,” said Stack (D-5th dist.). “Cutting community college funding during such difficult economic times only hinders the state’s chance to boost our workforce. We should invest in our educational institutions, not punish them.”
Hughes also assailed the deep cuts to hospitals, which are already feeling fiscal pain as they try to heal those in physical pain.
“Hospitals are already struggling with decreased revenues and increased numbers of uninsured patients,” he said. “I don’t know how we can responsibly pass a state budget that eliminates their supplemental funding and still expect them to provide quality services to the people they serve.”
