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House and Senate Republican leaders push spending cuts, warn against 'mega taxes' as budget deadline nears
Summary
Republican leaders at a House Republican Caucus press availability disputed larger budget shortfall estimates, cited a $6.7 billion maintenance-level gap computed by nonpartisan staff, and urged cutting spending rather than adopting proposed taxes they call 'mega taxes.' They also criticized several Democratic proposals including rent-stabilization measures and new targeted taxes.
At a Republican media availability, House and Senate GOP leaders said the state’s budget problems are the product of overspending and warned against pursuing new taxes to close the gap.
"We have overspent our revenues by 1,900,000,000, 2,600,000,000, and 4,100,000,000 in the last 6 years," Representative Corey said, listing cumulative biennial overspending he said amounts to "almost $9,000,000,000." He urged lawmakers to prioritize spending restraint and agency efficiencies over tax increases as the Legislature moves through fiscal week.
Senate Republican Leader John Braun and Senator Chris Gildan echoed that message, telling reporters the GOP asked Ways and Means nonpartisan staff to calculate a maintenance-level shortfall that strips out new spending and one-time items. "If you take away all of the politics ... you're looking at $6,700,000,000," the caucus cited from that nonpartisan estimate, which they said would be spread over four years.
The Republican leaders criticized several Democratic proposals under consideration, warning of large revenue measures they called "mega taxes," including a proposed wealth tax, payroll or 'jump start' tax, and a B&O surcharge. "These are mega huge taxes that are waiting out there," one leader said, citing multi-billion-dollar revenue estimates tied to those proposals.
On a separate front, Republicans raised concerns about housing-related measures moving in the Legislature. They criticized rent stabilization proposals as "anti-supply" and said eviction-reform bills the GOP supports did not advance out of committee as expected. "It just seemed very counterintuitive," Representative Andrew Barkus said, referring to the housing committee's focus.
Republican leaders also applauded the governor's decision to review agency budgets and expected the governor to release additional details on proposed 6% agency cuts. "This is a proper move," one senator said of the governor’s review, while reiterating that long-term fixes require addressing recurring spending rather than relying on ongoing tax increases.
The caucus urged reporters and the public to seek line-by-line accounting of the state's fiscal picture and said they will press to avoid tax increases that they say would hurt working families and the state’s economy. The press availability concluded with leaders reiterating their intent to work with the governor where possible and to oppose what they called unnecessary tax increases as the session approaches its fiscal deadlines.
