HARRISBURG — On the eve of a House vote that Republicans characterize as a make-or-break test of Gov. Tom Wolf’s proposed tax increases, the governor’s office said the first-term Democrat is still rounding up votes.
“We’re still working to garner support,” said Jeffrey Sheridan, spokesman for Mr. Wolf. “He’s going to continue meeting with members from both parties leading into tomorrow’s vote to ask for their vote.”
Republican leaders have framed the vote, planned for today, as a final chance for Mr. Wolf to disprove their belief that his proposals — which include an increase in the rate of the personal income tax — lack the support needed to pass a House and Senate in which their members outnumber the governor’s fellow Democrats.
“At some point, we’ve got to vote somebody off the island,” said House Majority Leader Dave Reed, R-Indiana. “And if it’s going to be broad-based tax increases, so be it.”
Mr. Wolf’s office on Tuesday unveiled a revised version of his tax proposal. The new plan would boost the personal income tax rate from 3.07 percent to 3.57 percent and enact a severance tax on natural gas drilling at a rate of 3.5 percent plus 4.7 cents per thousand cubic feet while leaving the gas drilling impact fee in place. Gone was the governor’s earlier proposal to raise the rate of the sales tax and apply that levy to additional goods and services.
The plan would also eliminate school property taxes for more than 200,000 senior households and more than 30,000 households of people with disabilities, the governor’s office said.
Mr. Wolf maintains the tax increases are needed to allow Pennsylvania to close a budget shortfall and increase funding for education.
The planned vote meant questions Tuesday about how many House members the governor could bring on board. Mr. Reed told reporters in the afternoon that the Wolf administration had said it had the votes to pass the legislation, but Mr. Sheridan, the governor’s spokesman, quickly retorted that no such message had been conveyed.
If all 84 Democrats voted for the tax increase, 18 Republicans would still be needed. Rep. Jake Wheatley, D-Hill District, said Tuesday that he supported the budget proposed by Mr. Wolf in March and supports the modified plan as well.
“We did four years of Tom Corbett” and the Republican governor’s budgets, Mr. Wheatley said.
But Rep. Nick Kotik, D-Coraopolis, said he had not made up his mind.
“It’s hard to sleep at night sometimes,” he said. “You’re weighing all the pluses and minuses and trying to come to a decision, and you’re getting input on both sides of the issue. Very strident, very strident opinions from my constituents, both ways.”
If Mr. Wolf could secure Republican votes, that would be ‘‘the key’’ for Mr. Kotik, he said.
Among Republicans, Rep. Eli Evankovich of Murrysville and Rep. Jason Ortitay of South Fayette said they had not been contacted by Mr. Wolf or his staff.
‘‘I just don’t want to see a massive tax increase on the middle class,’’ Mr. Ortitay said.
First Published: October 6, 2015, 2:55 p.m.
Updated: October 7, 2015, 3:26 a.m.
