A state tax on consumer electric bills currently seeing a revenue surge is targeted for a repeal.

The House and Senate have both voted to repeal the 5.9% gross receipts tax on electric bills in recent weeks.

But the two chambers have yet to put the repeal provision in an agreed to bill so it could be sent to Gov. Josh Shapiro for signing.

The latest action came when the House Rules Committee amended a Senate-passed tax code bill, House Bill 1667, to include the gross receipts tax repeal last Wednesday.

The tax repeal is in the mix with no sign of when an overdue state budget for Fiscal Year 2026-27 will be adopted.

A new report by the state Independent Fiscal Office (IFO) said the state collected $1.2 billion in gross receipts tax revenue in Fiscal Year 2025-26, a 14.8% increase from the previous year.

And the IFO predicts another tax revenue increase of 13.7% in the new fiscal year if the tax isn’t repealed.

The IFO attributes the revenue jump to surging power prices which have pushed electric bills higher. The tax is paid by residential, commercial and industrial customers and collected monthly by utilities.

The IFO regards the gross receipts tax as a regressive tax since lower income residents remit a larger share of their income to pay the tax.

Lawmakers cite the need to address affordability as a reason for the tax repeal push. Supporters estimate a repeal will save the average residential customer $150 a year.

HB1667 in current form contains some House Democratic Caucus priorities that lack Republican support. These are starting combined reporting for the state Corporate Net Income Tax, levying a digital ad tax and revising education tax credits.

The rules committee approved HB1667 by an 18-15 party line vote with Democrats supporting and Republicans opposed.