Governor Wolf criticizes Republican for targeting state, local tax deductions

HARRISBURG » Gov. Tom Wolf criticized a Republican tax-cutting package in Congress, saying Tuesday that it would amount to a tax increase on middle-class Pennsylvanians by ending a state and local tax deduction.

Getting rid of the deduction used by nearly 1.8 million Pennsylvania filers in 2015 — or almost one-third of all filers that year — amounts to the federal government rolling its problems downhill onto state taxpayers, Wolf said.

Wolf, a Democrat, joined Pennsylvania Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Casey in criticizing the provision in a wider $6 trillion plan under construction by Republicans. Trump administration officials have contended the deduction forces the rest of the country to subsidize homeowners in high-tax, big-spending states.

In response to pushback by some Republicans, the plan’s House Republican architects now say they will keep the deduction for local property taxes.

But Wolf said he still sees it as a shift in costs that will force Pennsylvania taxpayers to pay more.

“What we’re talking about here is a shift in costs from the federal government to state taxpayers, and regardless of whether it’s the property tax or an income tax or a local sales tax, the elimination of that deduction means that Pennsylvania taxpayers are going to be paying more,” Wolf said.