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Pennsylvania subjects its residents to one of the heaviest tax burdens on the working class.
An analysis of data by news organization The Center Square, reported in Monday's edition of the Williamsport Sun-Gazette, laid out that case.
Pennsylvania assesses a 3.07% income tax -- on nearly all sources of income and without regard for the amount of income.
We believe the state Legislature should consider eliminating taxes on earned income altogether. As our state and many states assess cigarette taxes and various taxes on alcohol -- so-called "sin" taxes -- to discourage excessive consumption of tobacco and alcohol, we must question if taxes on earned income signify that work, too, is meant to be discouraged.
Clearly no one should want that. We all should want every Pennsylvanian who is able to work to find a career or a job. And we dread when Pennsylvanians who are eager to work feel they have to leave our state to pursue a career and a life where they can keep more of their paychecks.
If eliminating taxes on earned income is too drastic of a step, we hope at the very least our legislator will consider exempting earned income under a certain amount. Expansion of the homestead/farmstead program for property tax relief also would ease the burden on Pennsylvania's families.
But of course, for any of these ideas to have serious traction, our state government needs to reduce spending.
The governor has proposed a $44.3 billion budget for 2023-24. As we have editorialized, that sum is simply too great for our families and neighbors to bear. We cannot be surprised that supporting such staggering budgets can only lead to heavy tax burdens on working-class families.
We hope that the legislators accept the reality that this level of spending is unsustainable. And we hope that a future in which the state government spends less and can reduce the tax burden on the working class is not too far off.