Pennsylvania lawmakers eye higher hotel tax in budget fight
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania's hotel tax rate would nearly double and Philadelphia and Pittsburgh would have the nation's two highest combined state-and-city hotel taxes under a proposal surfacing Tuesday in the House of Representatives to fill state government's $2.2 billion projected deficit.
The idea blindsided tourism and hotel advocacy groups. It emerged rapidly Tuesday from closed-door budget negotiations after a tide of opposition drowned one days-old proposal — a tax on commercial warehousing — and House GOP leaders last week blocked a new tax on Marcellus shale natural gas production.
Floor debate and votes were possible Tuesday night.
The House and the Senate returned to session this week in the latest bid to end a three-month-long budget stalemate. One sticking point has been the Republican-controlled Legislature's inability to produce a tax package big enough to satisfy Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf in his effort to pare down Pennsylvania's stubborn post-recession deficit.
Wolf isn't saying whether he'll support the new proposal.
Read more: http://triblive.com/state/pennsylvania/12802967-74/pennsylvania-lawmakers-eye-higher-hotel-tax-in-budget-fight
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