Commonwealth Caucus Plan 2006

Additional Resources Commonwealth Caucus News Reports

Dear Friends: Thank you for your continued interest in the Commonwealth Caucus' Plan for Pennsylvania's Future. If you have been following the Special Session on Tax Reform, it is clear that it has not yielded satisfactory results in how to best address school funding reform. However, the Commonwealth Caucus has received much public attention during this process and still remains on the House voting calendar. This means that all the bills are in a position in which they can be voted on immediately. This is something that no other plan can claim. In an effort to move the stale-mated legislature along, the Commonwealth Caucus has drafted a key amendment that maintains the integrity of the plan while offering a few significant changes. These changes are detailed in the following letter: FROM: Rep. Dennis Leh, 209 Ryan Office Building SUBJECT: Property Tax Reform DATE: March 31, 2006 Dear Leaders, As elected leaders of our caucus, you are in the position to make history in this Commonwealth. Together you can restore home ownership to our beleaguered homeowners. You can prevent the financial collapse of our precarious educational funding system and put K-12 education on predictable financial footing. The process of the Special Session on Tax Reform has clearly not yielded any satisfactory results. The Senate refuses to deal substantively with the issue. Yet during the House debate of the Commonwealth Caucus' "Plan for Pennsylvania's Future", numerous arguments were made and amendments were offered and passed that threw the financial foundation of the plan out of balance. As Finance Committee Chairman, my staff and committee members have been charged with reviewing the various school property tax proposals. The only bills to be voted from our committee have been the Commonwealth Caucus' "Plan for Pennsylvania's Future" (House Bills 39, 41, 42, 43 and 59). Four of the five bills still remain on the House calendar. After carefully reviewing all of the arguments made during the debates, Representative Sam Rohrer, prime sponsor of HB 43, and others have designed a single comprehensive amendment to HB 43 which addresses the arguments made. This amendment maintains the integrity and structure of the original plan, but, in a creative and financially prudent manner, addresses the fiduciary obligations of a sound proposal. In simple terms, in addition to the Plan's original exemptions, this amendment will add the following exemptions from the broadened sales tax: Original Exemptions New Exemptions Under HB 43 Food stamp and WIC purchases Fresh meat, fresh produce Contract farming All utilities Agricultural wholesale purchases Specific business to business services Sales made by tax-exempt organizations o Accounting Prescription drugs o Legal Sale for Resale o Research Health Services o Engineering Advertising o Computer Trucking The revenue lost from these additional exemptions would be replaced with an expansion of the personal income tax by ½%. However, the impact of this personal income tax is offset by the fact that, under the Commonwealth Caucus Plan, 100% of the local earned income tax (½%) school portion is eliminated. This is a win-win situation for the entire House. We call upon you to collectively support this clear House plan. John and Sam, bring up HB 42 and HB 43 and send this package to the Senate. Sincerely, Samuel E. Rohrer and Dennis E. Leh, State Representatives CC: All House Members DBTA asks that you once again contact your elected legislators as well as House and Senate leadership on this important issue and make your support known. Ask them to support the amendment to House Bill 43 and to push for a vote on the entire Commonwealth Caucus package. We need our supporters to speak loudly and clearly that property tax elimination through the "Plan for Pennsylvania's Future" is no longer just an option but an absolute necessity. Return to main page