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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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MEDIA CONTACT:
Ben Turner |
State Rep. Tim Seip
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Seip advocates for budget priorities:
Property tax relief, cutting dependence on foreign energy
HARRISBURG, March 15 – State Rep. Tim Seip today urged the House Appropriations Committee, which has the lead role in crafting the state budget, to make property tax relief and energy independence priorities in the 2007-08 budget. Seip’s full testimony, which he submitted today, is below.
Rep. Tim Seip
Testimony before House Appropriations Committee:
March 2007
Good morning. As you begin shaping the new budget, I would like to urge you to take into account the top priorities of the people I represent in Schuylkill and Berks counties, such as property tax relief, alternative energy, health-care reform and veterans’ benefits.
I welcome the fact that the governor supports providing much more funding for property tax relief for homeowners. But I believe that if we do end up passing a sales tax increase, as the governor proposed, it should be earmarked specifically for property tax relief on primary residences.
Like most of your constituents, the people I represent want more property tax relief. We need to shift away from the property tax. That way, everyone would only feel a pinch -- instead of the punch in the mouth that many homeowners are currently getting.
Many of the homeowners struggling to afford their property taxes are veterans. I urge you to make sure that the new budget does more to help those Pennsylvanians who have served in our armed forces.
On two of the other major issues facing us – health care and energy – we must face up to the high cost of doing nothing. With respect to health care, families and businesses cannot sustain the cost increases that keep going up much faster than general inflation. If we do not act, the cost of health care will consume more and more of the state budget. Leaving more people uninsured is NOT the answer. That just drives up costs for everyone. We need to reduce health care costs by covering more people and covering the right things.
On energy, we face a similar problem – a high cost for doing nothing. We should seize the opportunity to make smart, targeted investments that create jobs. While I expect that some details will change during the legislative process, I want to see a major energy investment that would help projects like the ethanol plant in my district that is expected to create about 60 jobs with good wages.
Also, I strongly support ending the loophole that lets many oil companies avoid Pennsylvania tax on much of the big profits they rack up here. It is past time for them to pay their fair share, and we could definitely use that money to fix highways and bridges. On the other hand, I am very skeptical of leasing or selling the turnpike. I am concerned we might get a quick buck but then end up with a broken-down roadway, a turnpike that would be in need of even more repairs, after a private company has sucked out all of the equity that it possibly could. The possible expansion of the miles of toll roads in Pennsylvania should be explored, as opposed to handing over miles of the current system to private industry. If there is money to be squeezed out of the turnpike system, it should benefit all Pennsylvanians.
I want to close by talking about another reason to pass a major investment in alternative energy. We can keep billions more of our energy dollars here at home -- instead of sending that hard-earned money to the Persian Gulf. And by keeping more of our energy dollars at home, we might be able to keep more of our troops home, as well. As many of you know, this is a personal issue for me -- my wife is currently serving with the Pennsylvania Army National Guard in Iraq. So I have an added reason to urge you to invest in increasing Pennsylvania’s lead in the growth industry of alternative energy. Thank you.
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