Appropriations committee reports three bills to floor despite Republican objections over local tax impacts

The House Appropriations Committee reported House Bills 359, 393 and 937 to the House floor after committee consideration, despite recorded objections from Republican members who warned of impacts on local taxpayers.

Committee staff described the bills at the start of the meeting. According to the overview, House Bill 359 would amend the Tax Increment Financing Act to allow municipalities to use tax-increment financing funds for anti-displacement activities in and around TIF districts. House Bill 393 would amend the Second Class Township Code to increase statutory maximums for fire and EMS special-purpose taxes. House Bill 937 would amend Title 16 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, providing for fees.

A Republican committee member objected to the package, stating, “we have significant concerns on the impacts to taxpayers, specifically at the lower level because these will create some changes for townships and counties related to fee structures and possible increases in taxes. So we, again, will be voting in the negative.” The committee proceeded to report the bills to the House floor; the chair announced, “House Bill 3 5 9 3 9 3 and 9 3 7 will be rereported to the floor from this committee.”

Why it matters: HB359 would permit use of TIF proceeds for anti-displacement work, which could shift local development financing; HB393 would change local taxing authority for fire and EMS in second-class townships; HB937 would change fee authorities under Title 16. Republican members told the committee they feared downstream tax or fee increases for townships and counties.

Next steps: The bills were reported to the full House for further consideration; the committee transcript records objections but does not show amendments or a full roll-call tally allocating votes by member for this package.