November 23, 2015
The Pennsylvania Senate on Monday night rejected a bill to abolish school property taxes and increase rates on state income and sales taxes.
A preliminary vote of 24-24 was broken by Lt. Gov. Mike Stack of Philadelphia, who opposed it.
"I just think now was not the time, and this bill was not the bill," said Stack in breaking the tie on State Bill 76, according to PA Independent.
The lieutenant governor "had concerns over taxing food, leaving schools with a funding deficit and taking focus off budget talks....Stack did say that the issue of property tax reform has to be revisited," PA Independent tweeted.
Lt. Gov. Stack on his tie-breaking vote that stopped SB76 tonight: "I just think now was not the time, and this bill was not the bill."
— PA Independent (@PAindependent) November 24, 2015
According to the Associated Press:
The bill would have imposed a multi billion-dollar state takeover of public school funding from school boards and a monumental change in state taxation. The Legislature's Independent Fiscal Office projects total school property tax collections, including existing state rebates, will exceed $14 billion next year. Gov. Tom Wolf says he opposes it. A similar bill failed badly in the House two years ago.
The vote was streamed live by the Senate.
