Winning ‘The T’ Are Part of Shapiro’s Campaign
HARRISBURG – Using the state’s multi-billion-dollar surplus to cut taxes and pay for gas tax givebacks, are part of the Josh Shapiro tax plan. Talked about on WKOK’s On The Mark program Wednesday, the current state Attorney General, who is the lone democratic candidate for governor of Pennsylvania, said the state has accumulated billions in state tax dollars and federal funds.
He said he’ll eliminate the 11% cellphone tax, and while he said he doesn’t favor a much talked about temporary gas tax holiday, he does say his tax plan calls for giving every Pennsylvanian with a vehicle, a $250 gas tax rebate. He said if you have two cars, you’ll get $500, and so on.
Money for the tax cuts and rebates will come from the state’s abundant surplus, “We’re sitting on about $7 billion in state accounts that’s doing absolutely nothing to help the people of Pennsylvania. It’s your money that was sent to Harrisburg and it’s not helping you. So, what I want to do is take a portion of that money and give it back to the people so they can put it to use.”
Unlike the adversity of Governor Tom Wolf and the GOP controlled legislature, Shapiro says his campaign is about working together with Republicans and Democrats, especially when it comes to future elections, “I’ve heard from Republican and Democratic county commissioners, who want what’s known as pre-canvassing; the ability to go through mail-in ballots and organize them, not count them yet, so that on election night, we can give the voters of the commonwealth or that district some answers. That’s an example of a commonsense, bipartisan thing that needs to be done.”
Asked why he is campaigning in the republican rich middle of Pennsylvania, he said, “If you go back and look at my two races for Attorney General, we outperformed nearly every other Democrat in ‘The T.’ So, I don’t write off any Pennsylvanian. I don’t write off any community. I actually think its important to show up and listen, so you’ll see me continue to show up in the so-called ‘T.’” The T refers to GOP heavy middle and top tier of Pennsylvania, minus the Democratic strongholds of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.
Shapiro said also wants to protect rural communities, by investing in farmers and helping provide rural high speed internet access. Additionally, he said it’s also important to continue investigating into the education system, and wants to reinstate vocational, technical and computer training back in classrooms.
You can hear much more from Josh Shapiro on the WKOK.com Podcast Page or wherever you listen to podcasts.
