Wonder if this will push more folks out of the county? (Harrisburg: utilities, income)

[Goinback2011]

Originally Posted by Sciulli

the news articles yesterday said this would affect 300 employees I believe. That doesn't necessarily mean they are all on minimum wage though I would think. Like a worker currently making $14 would see a bump as well.

The news report I saw said it would also apply to contractors. There was no estimate of how many would be affected or the cost.

[robrobrob]

The thing is that the extraction tax was never going to happen. Not with the Republicans in charge of the state house and senate.

Wolf knew this from the start. He just didn't tell the voters since he needed their votes to win the election. And every voter should have known this in spite of Wolf's campaign promises.

[I_Like_Spam]

Originally Posted by Faer

The only reason I voted for this schmo was to get an extraction tax in place. Now he's abandoned that and is shifting this burden onto the poorest. Last time I ever vote for this guy.

A governor can't impose a new tax on his own.

[erieguy]

They better keep building in Butler County. Sounds like they might need a lot more places for people to live up here.

[UKyank]

Originally Posted by Faer

The only reason I voted for this schmo was to get an extraction tax in place. Now he's abandoned that and is shifting this burden onto the poorest. Last time I ever vote for this guy.

Agree; though not all that surprising given he basically ran on an 'I'm a nice guy that drive around in a jeep & not named Corbett' platform. Sometimes you need someone who isn't nice & has a backbone.

Not only has Wolf completely abandoned his top campaign promise after a few months in office but he's also retained most of the same faces in the DEP after it's been shown that they were basically not doing their jobs in regards to the gas industry.

Yea, it's a hostile legislature but other execs who are Leaders work through such things.

[Der Schwabe]

Originally Posted by UKyank

Yea, it's a hostile legislature but other execs who are Leaders work through such things.

Examples?

[UKyank]

Originally Posted by Der Schwabe

Examples?

Anytime the executive & legislative branch are controlled by different parties (which is a common enough occurance in both national & state governments); some execs manage to get legislation they support passed others no not

[Der Schwabe]

Originally Posted by UKyank

Anytime the executive & legislative branch are controlled by different parties (which is a common enough occurance in both national & state governments); some execs manage to get legislation they support passed others no not

Right, that's the general assertion you made. But in this situation, with this kind of budget standoff, I was looking for specific examples that did not include compromise on campaign promises. Any examples really.

And to be clear, by this kind of situation I mean the Republican ultimatums on the legislative side tied to (and made possible by) our district gerrymandering that bears an all too unfortunate similarity to both the gerrymandering that has created so many uncompetitive house races that lead to similar federal budget standoffs.

Of course it's easier to just take a pot shot from the cheap seats and say that "any real executive could manage to get their legislation passed." It would be more productive to discuss why exactly the extraction tax is off the table.

[sparrowmint]

Originally Posted by BigPizzaHutFan

The best part about a tax on property is that the taxed always have the means to pay it.

Being poor is hard enough, don't make it worse by increasing sales taxes to provide relief for people who need it less.

I think you have property taxes confused with income taxes. People can own their homes and then lose their income. Or pay off their homes years ago and end up on a small, fixed income (many elderly). People don't always have the means to pay their property taxes anymore than they have the means to pay a mortgage.

It's the state income tax that should increase, not sales taxes OR property taxes.

[UKyank]

Originally Posted by Der Schwabe

Right, that's the general assertion you made. But in this situation, with this kind of budget standoff, I was looking for specific examples that did not include compromise on campaign promises. Any examples really.

And to be clear, by this kind of situation I mean the Republican ultimatums on the legislative side tied to (and made possible by) our district gerrymandering that bears an all too unfortunate similarity to both the gerrymandering that has created so many uncompetitive house races that lead to similar federal budget standoffs.

Of course it's easier to just take a pot shot from the cheap seats and say that "any real executive could manage to get their legislation passed." It would be more productive to discuss why exactly the extraction tax is off the table.

There's a big difference between compromising on campaign promises & abandoning the primary promise that got you elected in the first place.

An extraction tax is supposedly very popular among the citizens of PA, if that's indeed the case he should stand his ground & make the legislature look like fools for fighting against it so hard; instead the republicans can sit back & blame an unpopular sales tax increase on the governor as it occurred in his watch. Basically there was a standoff & governor was the first to blink.