While GOP gubernatorial candidates are fighting over their shared plan to line oil and gas executives’ pockets and defund the police, Josh Shapiro has a plan to lower costs and put money directly in Pennsylvanians’ pockets.
PENNSYLVANIA — As Pennsylvanians struggle with the high price of gas, the GOP candidates for Governor are instead proposing fiscally irresponsible plans to cut the gas tax that would line the pockets of oil and gas executives, cut funding for infrastructure, and defund the State Police — and fighting about it. While they attack each other over whose plan is the worst, Pennsylvanians are hearing about Attorney General Josh Shapiro’s plan to lower costs and put money back in their pockets.
Jake Corman is proposing a gas tax cut, but “has consistently voted to increase the tax burden on Pennsylvanians” — hypocritical behavior that Bill McSwain is eagerly calling out. Corman’s team has fired back, saying, “Unlike Bill, Jake doesn’t just talk about what he’s going to do — he has a record of getting things done.”
While Corman’s plan calls for using ARP funds in a prohibited way, The Philadelphia Inquirer notes that McSwain simply “hasn’t offered specifics or said how he’d pay for” his plan.
In case you missed the GOP candidates’ latest infighting over their out-of-touch and reckless agenda, check out The Philadelphia Inquirer’s new reporting.
By Andrew Seidman, 03/29/22
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Josh Shapiro’s gas prices plan
Shapiro, the only Democrat in the race, is taking a different approach. He proposes giving drivers $250 per registered vehicle, for up to four cars per household. The gas tax would remain unchanged. As with the Republicans, Shapiro would tap the American Rescue Plan to pay for the plan. There are about eight million registered passenger vehicles in Pennsylvania, so the program could cost $2 billion – though the campaign says some, like government-owned cars, wouldn’t be eligible.
Shapiro says he also wants to eliminate the “cell phone tax” — a tax on cell phone service that sends $317 million to the state’s general fund.
His plan would also expand a property tax and rent rebate program for seniors and disabled adults, increasing the maximum rebate from $650 to $1,000. Shapiro would make about 275,000 more people eligible for the program by raising the income eligibility cut-off to $30,000 a year for renters, double the current cut-off of $15,000, and $50,000 for homeowners, up from $35,000.
In addition to $2 billion in federal relief aid, Shapiro said the state’s budget surplus would help pay for his plan.
The politics
Bill McSwain challenges Jake Corman’s record
Corman drew criticism from GOP rival Bill McSwain, the former top federal prosecutor in the Philadelphia region, who called Corman’s plan “a transparent attempt to garner public favor by relieving taxpayers of the burdensome tax that he himself voted to enact.”
That’s a reference to Corman’s 2013 vote in favor of legislation that lifted a cap on a wholesale tax on gasoline and diesel – eventually raising the tax by almost 30 cents over five years.
That measure, signed into law by Republican Gov. Tom Corbett, was the state’s biggest investment in transportation in decades.
“Corman has consistently voted to increase the tax burden on Pennsylvanians,” McSwain said this month.
McSwain said he wants a “permanent and drastic reduction of the gas tax,” though he hasn’t offered specifics or said how he’d pay for it. A spokesperson said McSwain will provide more details soon.
La Torre, Corman’s spokesperson, said: “Unlike Bill, Jake doesn’t just talk about what he’s going to do — he has a record of getting things done.”
Josh Shapiro criticizes Republicans’ gas tax cut proposals
Shapiro, who is running unopposed, is going after the Republicans ahead of the May 17 primary.
He says the GOP plans would “defund the state police” – using a phrase Republicans have used to label Democrats as soft on crime.
That’s because the state police rely on gas tax revenue – and the American Rescue Plan says pandemic relief aid cannot be used by states to cut taxes. (However, a federal judge in Alabama in November blocked the U.S. Treasury Department from enforcing the anti-tax cut provision, saying it violated state sovereignty.)
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Shapiro also questioned whether oil and gas companies would pass on the savings from the gas tax reduction to consumers.
“While they’re working to put money in the pockets of oil and gas executives, I’m working to put money in the pockets of Pennsylvanians who right now are dealing with these high costs,” Shapiro said in Pittsburgh this month.
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