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Senate leader wants vote on property tax reform

HARRISBURG — The Senate’s top official said Tuesday he would like to see his chamber cast an up or down vote on a school property tax reform plan during the coming year.

Senate President Pro Tem Joseph Scarnati, R-Jefferson, spoke with reporters about the year ahead just after his re-election to that post.

He acknowledged in acceptance remarks that tackling large issues is difficult in an election year, but he repeatedly expressed his view in the interview that a property tax floor vote is worth doing.

“It comes down to tough votes,” said Scarnati.

The senator sees an opportunity to act on the decades-old issue of reducing or eliminating local school property taxes as a primary revenue support for public schools.

He spoke of having conversations with Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf on the topic and the release last month of a report by a bipartisan Senate-House School Property Tax Work Group.

The work group consists of 12 lawmakers and a representative of the governor.

This group has outlined five separate plans ranging from cutting property taxes for senior citizens only to the entire elimination of property taxes.

In a Dec. 5 letter, the members asked caucus leaders to “conduct a thorough count” to determine which plan has support.

Scarnati said having a floor vote is warranted since many senators have spoken for years about wanting to take action to reform property taxes.

As for his own plans, Scarnati said he’s preparing to circulate nominating petitions to run for another four-year term in the 25th Senatorial District in northwest Pennsylvania.

Scarnati said consideration is being given to filling the posts of Senate general counsel and majority caucus chief of staff that were jointly held by J. Andrew Crompton, who was sworn in Tuesday as a Commonwealth Court judge.

Scarnati plans to name a new chair for the Senate State Government Committee after the Jan. 14 special election to fill the vacant seat in the 48th Senatorial District. The election will pick a successor to former panel chairman Mike Folmer, who resigned after his arrest on child pornography possession charges.

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