January 17, 2008
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"Tax Me More"
By Senator Mike Folmer

Shortly, the Governor will be making his state budget recommendations and the General Assembly will begin working on a spending plan for 2008-2009.  After voting "no" on my first budget last year, I come into this year with valuable experience and knowledge.

I'm sure the Governor will have his usual litany of spending requests, such as $75 million for Hollywood millionaires to produce movies in Pennsylvania, and tens of millions of dollars for government agencies to advertise themselves.

With our current state budget of $27.16 billion, the Commonwealth is spending nearly $75 million a day.  That's over $3 million an hour, over $51,000 per minute, and more than $861 per second.  I think that spending nearly $1,000 per second is a lot of money.  I also believe that borrowing is not a legacy we want to leave our children and grandchildren.  Debt service is now almost $1 billion per year (over 3 percent of the budget).

For my first bill, I introduced the Taxpayer Protection Act (SB 707), which would limit state spending to the lesser of: 1) the combined rates of inflation and population growth; or 2) the rate of personal income growth. I believe that getting spending under control is the only way that we can cut taxes that are hurting job creation and squeezing out the middle class.

Although many agree with me, some actually believe government isn't spending enough!  A few even say we should raise taxes to pay their pet programs.  As the Commonwealth collects $110 million a day, you can't tell me we need more money.  While families and people budget to their income, government does just the opposite:  it figures out how much it wants, and then finds ways to get it from the taxpayers.

I don't buy into the philosophy that taxpayers exist to serve government.  That's why I'm introducing a bill for those who call for higher taxes.  My bill is modeled after a 2001 Arkansas law:  the "Tax Me More Fund," which was offered as an alternative to tax increases and budget cuts.  I believe such an approach lets people speak for themselves.  If you consider yourself under-taxed, feel free to voluntarily donate to state government.

Meanwhile, I’ll continue to push the Taxpayer Protection Act.

At the same time, I'll be asking those who call for higher taxes if they have written a check to the Commonwealth.  Those who don’t should not say that raising taxes is a viable option.  I'm convinced most people will say:  "My taxes are high enough." And few will say, "Tax me more."