WHEREAS, The City Council of Philadelphia believes we have the duty to provide quality services to its residents; and
WHEREAS, The City Administration is proposing eliminating funding to the Art Museum, the Atwater Kent Museum and severely reducing funding to the Cultural Fund and Recreation Centers in part because of the lack of necessary funding coming from the State and Federal governments over the last few years; and
WHEREAS, Philadelphia and Pennsylvania need new revenue to prevent these and other deep budget cuts and to pay for education, affordable housing, child care, health care, prescription drugs, public safety, environmental programs, local aid, arts and recreation programs, human services, and other badly needed state and local programs; and
WHEREAS, If significant revenue is not forthcoming, the City of Philadelphia will face increased pressure to raise taxes, to cut vital services, and there is already a proposal to raise fees and fines; and
WHEREAS, Philadelphia and Pennsylvania is in this fiscal crisis due in part because the sluggish national economy has resulted in substantial loss of revenues; and
WHEREAS, The federal government has required that states do more (e.g. homeland security, the No Child Left Behind law), but has not provided adequate funding to do so; and
WHEREAS, The U.S. Congress and President Bush could have provided $85 billion in aid to the states during this nationwide fiscal crisis, which would have eliminated every state’s deficit, but instead chose to pass and sign a tax bill that provides only $20 billion in aid to states and gives away $330 billion in tax breaks, primarily to the wealthiest Americans; and
WHEREAS, The 2003 tax law will yield an average tax cut totaling only
$381 over four years
to the bottom 60% percent of Pennsylvania taxpayers, while the richest 1% in our state will receive an average four-year tax break of $85,684; and
WHEREAS, Pennsylvania relies on federal aid in the form of Medicaid reimbursements, general economic assistance, increased spending on transportation and housing development, direct homeland security funding, and a strong Social Security system; and
WHEREAS, The 2003 tax law undermines our state and local efforts in these areas, as well as provides little tax relief to the vast majority of the citizens of Pennsylvania; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the City Council of Philadelphia calls upon the members of the Pennsylvania Delegation to the United States Congress to vote to repeal the 2003 tax breaks that benefit only upper-income taxpayers, and redirect a portion of the restored funds to the states so they can stop painful budget cuts; and
FURTHER RESOLVED, That the City Council of Philadelphia calls upon the members of the Pennsylvania Delegation to the United States Congress to vote against any future tax breaks that solely, or substantially only, benefit wealthy Americans and/or large corporations, which erode the funding available for critical domestic priorities.
End