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SCRANTON — More than three weeks past the budget deadline, State Rep. Marty Flynn accused Republican legislators of obstructing state budget talks in order to make a point rooted in “right-wing ideology.”
“Government doesn’t work and they’re out to prove it,” the Scranton Democrat said.
Flynn, joined Thursday morning by fellow Democrat state representatives Eddie Day Pashinski, Mike Sturla and Sid Michaels Kavulich, criticized Republican stances and professed support for Gov. Tom Wolf’s budget plans at a news conference outside Scranton High School.
The state GOP in its own release called the Democrats’ statements “empty rhetoric” and pointed to a June 1 vote, which rejected Wolf’s budget in a 0-to-193 decision.
One month after the vote, Wolf vetoed a budget Republicans touted as balanced that did not raise taxes.
Pashinski, of Wilkes-Barre, urged constituents to contact Republican leaders and demand they return to Harrisburg to continue negotiations.
“Get back in that room and don’t come out until you have a budget,” he said.
Sturla, of Lancaster, who also serves as chairman of the House Democratic Policy Committee, railed against structural deficits in the state budget and praised Wolf’s plans to reduce the corporate income tax from 9.9 percent to 4.9 percent while closing tax loopholes by requiring a more comprehensive form of financial reporting.
Kavulich, of Taylor, called for a “fair, reasonable” severance tax on natural gas extraction to be imposed on top of impact fees, which he said would fund schools while helping to keep money in the areas most affected by drilling.
“We have a constitutional obligation to provide education to our children, not to help gas companies maximize profits,” he said.
Republican Rep. Aaron Kaufer, of Kingston, said a severance tax could be a starting point for compromise between the parties, especially if it provides property tax relief.
Kaufer in a phone interview said the 50-percent property tax reduction Wolf proposes does not protect taxpayers from future increases in the tax, and instead Kaufer called for the elimination of property taxes.
The ongoing debate over liquor privatization presented another point of contention, with the Democrats dismissing the sale of liquor stores as a one-time revenue.
Kaufer called the argument a “complete distortion” of the truth, and countered saying privatization of liquor sales would add nearly $1 billion to revenue without raising taxes.
And though both sides agreed budget talks are growing more productive, Kaufer said the state’s most pressing issue is a subject Tuesday’s news conference barely mentioned.
“It’s the elephant in the room, the 900-pound gorilla, and no one is addressing it,” Kaufer said. “Pension reform is at the heart of our discussion.”
He said the problem grows every year as the state continually increases its payment into the pension system.
Kaufer said the issue is complicated, but the solution can be put simply.
“Stop digging the hole and start filling it in,” he said.
A pension reform bill met a veto earlier this month after the General Assembly sent it to the governor’s desk.
The bill, a Republican proposal, would have moved new state employees to a 401k-style plan.