HARRISBURG -- No higher state taxes, period.
That's the position of Lt. Gov. Joe Scarnati, a Republican from Jefferson County who also serves as the state's top elected senator, as Pennsylvania prepares to deal with a potential $2 billion state deficit next year.
It's wrong to raise taxes on citizens when they can't pay for health insurance and groceries, Scarnati said today in an interview with the Tribune-Review.. If Republicans vote to raise taxes, "what's the reason to vote for us?"
"It's what happened to Republicans at the national level. What do they stand for?" Scarnati said.
He also ruled out higher state fees. "A tax increase is a tax increase," he said.
The state must cut spending in its $28 billion budget, Scarnati said.
Scarnati, 46, became lieutenant governor Nov. 12 following the death of former Lt. Gov. Catherine Baker Knoll. As Senate president pro tempore, he was in line to succeed Knoll, of McKees Rocks. He remains president pro tempore, the top elected official of the Senate, and as lieutenant governor is in line to succeed Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell.
It's the first time in Pennsylvania history that a lieutenant governor has served with a governor of the opposing party.
Scarnati automatically became lieutenant governor when Knoll died. He took the oath of office in a private ceremony on Dec. 3. "It wasn't a celebration. I didn't want it to look like a celebration," he said when asked why he kept the swearing-in private.
Rendell has begun to cut state spending and has said tax increases should be a last resort. Rendell does favor a tax on smokeless tobacco.
But Rendell in 2003 pushed for a package of higher taxes that, when approved, included a 10 percent hike in the state income tax and cell phone taxes. In 2007, Rendell proposed seven state tax increases and Senate Republicans shot them down. Rendell once called lawmakers "cowards" for not being willing to vote for higher taxes.
Scarnati praised Rendell for taking steps to cut spending. He said the governor has asked him to meet with leaders of the four legislative caucuses to come up with recommendations to cut spending. The first meeting is Tuesday.
Pennsylvania hasn't faced a potential deficit of this magnitude since 1991 when taxes were raised by $3 billion.
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