Progressive lawmakers and advocates gathered in the Pennsylvania capitol on Wednesday to highlight how the state tax system puts a greater burden on lower and middle class Pennsylvanians than wealthier residents.
Pennsylvania has a uniformity clause in its constitution that prevents the legislature from enacting a progressive income tax structure, which makes the wealthier pay a higher share of their income, and lawmakers in the House believe they have found creative ways to raise taxes on billionaires.
Their proposals include placing taxes on passive income such as investments or real estate income, taxing social media ads on platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, and closing the Delaware Loophole, which allows out of state corporations to skip paying taxes by registering their corporations in Delaware.
“ Pennsylvania’s 23 billionaires have grown their collective wealth by $32.6 billion – 24.3% – since Trump was reelected,” said Felicity Williams, executive director of the Pennsylvania Policy Center.
“That is not just wealth growth. That is a system that is extracting more from people who work for a living while allowing extraordinary wealth at the top to grow largely untouched, and it brings us to the choices in front of us right now in Pennsylvania.”
