HARRISBURG – House Republican Leader Bryan Cutler (R-Lancaster) said Wednesday that Pennsylvania’s House Democrats have used their one seat majority this week to push multiple tax increases that will impact every Pennsylvanian.

In House Bill 611, the budget put forward by House Democratic leadership and supported solely by Democrat votes, House Democrats embraced a tax on Pennsylvanians when they heat and cool their homes and turn on the lights.

In House Bill 181, which Democrats pushed through the House Labor and Industry Committee, House Democrats voted for a tax on every working Pennsylvanian to socialize paid leave in an unaccountable bureaucracy primed for potential fraud and abuse in the same agency that mismanaged Pennsylvania’s unemployment compensation system.

“Try as they might with a smoke-and-mirrors approach to legislating, but House Democrats this week worked to make it less affordable to live in Pennsylvania by raising taxes and costs on every Pennsylvanian multiple times,” Cutler said. “From their bloated budget that gives state government a raise to their continued quest to have taxpayers pay people more to not work or work less, it is clear Pennsylvania’s House Democrats have embraced the tax-and-spend policies of their predecessors and the policy ideas of the ultra-progressive left wing of their party both here and in Washington, D.C.”

Cutler noted Pennsylvania’s House Republicans, by contrast, have continued to work within the cornerstones of The Keystone Commitment and have supported and driven policies that create a thriving economy, affordable living, safe communities, and a child-first, family-focused educational experience.

“As Pennsylvanians continue to struggle to make ends meet and grapple with record inflation, House Republicans will stand against Democrat-driven tax increases and work to increase affordability,” Cutler said. “So far this session, we have put forward commonsense proposals supported by the majority of Pennsylvania. It is an example the House Democrats’ ‘humble majority’ should follow.”