For Immediate Release: October 29, 2025
Contact: Melissa McCleery, melissa@onrosehill.com
20+ State Legislators Say Taxing Billionaires Is the Only Way to Prevent PA’s Next Budget Crisis
With two million Pennsylvanians losing SNAP food assistance this weekend, legislators say significant new revenue is necessary to combat looming federal budget cuts
HARRISBURG—Twenty lawmakers, along with unions and statewide advocacy organizations from the Pennsylvanians for Accountability from Yass, Billionaires, and Corporations (PAYBAC) coalition, gathered at the Capitol today to announce the “Tax Billionaires, Fund PA” plan – a bold, fair revenue proposal that is expected to raise at least $4 billion in new revenue by taking direct aim at billionaire greed and corporate tax dodging.
Legislators rallying behind the “Tax Billionaires, Fund PA” campaign include: Senator Nikil Saval, Senator Lindsey Williams, Senator Katie Muth, Senator Amanda Cappelletti, Senator John I. Kane, Senator Tim Kearney, Representative Rick Krajewski, Representative Elizabeth Fiedler, Representative Lindsey Powell, Representative Aerion Abney, Representative Tim Briggs, Representative Ben Waxman, Representative Izzy Smith Wade-El, Representative Tarik Khan, Representative Chris Rabb, Representative Danilo Burgos, Representative Heather Boyd, Representative Mary Jo Daley, Representative Lisa Borowski, Representative Joe Hohenstein and Chair of the Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus Representative Napoleon Nelson.
Staring down looming federal cuts with devastating impacts, legislators and supporters from the PAYBAC coalition emphasized that austerity is a choice, not a necessity. Pennsylvania’s fourth-most-unfair tax system forces working families to shoulder the burden while billionaires like Jeff Yass grow richer and corporations dodge paying their fair share in taxes. “Tax Billionaires, Fund PA” lays out a roadmap to fix that imbalance, protect critical services, and avoid future cuts that harm communities statewide. The three pieces of legislation that will make up the package are:
- Close all corporate tax loopholes: Companies that do business in Pennsylvania should pay taxes in Pennsylvania. But right now, big corporations dodge taxes by shifting profits earned in Pennsylvania out of state. Governor Shapiro supports ending one tactic known as the “Delaware Loophole,” and the “Tax Billionaires, Fund PA” plan pushes for “worldwide combined reporting,” which would close all corporate tax loopholes and keep more money in PA. HB1601 was passed by the House in June and would stop corporate tax dodging.
- Pass a digital ad tax: Screens are flooded with ads that generate billions in profits for corporations like Google, Amazon, Meta, and TikTok – companies that profit off of our personal data. A digital ad tax would ensure these tech giants contribute their fair share by paying a sales tax on the advertisements that drive their revenue. In June, Rep. Fiedler introduced HB 1678 to implement a digital ad tax.
- Tax Pennsylvania’s billionaires: The richest people in Pennsylvania make millions every day without working. Taxing unearned income from stocks, real estate, trusts, and royalty checks could yield billions for the state. Rep. Krajewski circulated a co-sponsorship memo after today’s press conference.
With federal funding cuts on the horizon and essential services like healthcare, education, and housing at risk, speakers called on the legislature to raise sustainable revenue by making the ultra-wealthy and large corporations pay their fair share. Lawmakers urged their colleagues and the Governor to act on the “Tax Billionaires, Fund PA” plan and reject austerity.
Ms. Paulette Whitfield, Board Vice-Chair of One Pennsylvania, said:
“I’m a retired respiratory therapist. I worked all my life, and when I qualified for home care, I was told I couldn’t get it without giving up the deed to my house. Meanwhile, Jeff Yass and other billionaires are getting richer and richer, and we’re left struggling. Millions of Pennsylvanians will lose access to food on Saturday. Will Jeff Yass invite anyone over for dinner? I’m here speaking up as a senior citizen to ask legislators: which side are you on? Are you on the side of the billionaires making money off our backs, or are you on the side of the people struggling?”
Rick Heinze, a member of the Center for Coalfield Justice, said:
“I grew up in the 50s, a boom time: baby boom, housing boom, economic boom, structure boom. We built the interstate highway system. How? There was a tax of 91% on anyone making over $200,000 so we had money back then to do these big projects. We could do it because we taxed the rich, and we can again.”
Steve Catanese, President of SEIU Local 668, said:
“We have no state budget to pay for roads and basic services. Families are being squeezed by a federal shutdown that’s cutting food assistance, while billionaires are sitting on hoards of wealth. Taxing billionaires should be a no‑brainer. We’re here talking about feeding people while some asshole billionaires are trying to get to the moon. Enough is enough.”
Shakyra Thomas, a home healthcare worker and member of SEIU Healthcare PA said:
“I’ve been taking care of people for as long as I can remember. Caregivers like me put our hearts into our work, but are treated with little respect. The budget is about the dignity of workers, the freedom to age at home, the ability to care for loved ones and live with respect and stability. We can do it: Tax billionaires like the rest of us. We all take care of other people with our taxes.”
Senator Nikil Saval said:
“The scales in Pennsylvania are broken. While billionaires go unimpeded and score record profits, working people are forced to subsidize their wealth and bear the brunt of budget shortfalls. Our wonderful students and teachers must make do in crumbling schools, our grocery and utility costs are eating our paychecks, and our medical system is contracting, leaving people in urban and rural areas alike without access to basic care. The people of Pennsylvania deserve a government that represents their interests, not wealthy corporations. We need a fair system for revenue that builds a commonwealth where all of us can flourish.”
Rep. Rick Krajewski said:
“From our schools to our mass transit to our threatened federal programs – we’re seeing service cuts that make a decent life even less affordable in PA. But there is another way. I introduced legislation updating our passive income tax today and am proud to be joining a campaign of lawmakers ready to finally tax the rich and reinvest in state services. We have momentum, we have solutions on the table. This should be a wake-up moment in Harrisburg that not only prevents the worst effects of federal cuts but fundamentally reorients our tax system to work for working people.”
Senator Lindsey Williams said:
“Billionaires made their fortunes off of us: our brains, the money we spend, the ads on our screens. Pennsylvania cannot afford to keep balancing our budget on the backs of working people while billionaires and big corporations get a free ride. Budgets are moral documents, and we should be ashamed of how much working people pay in Pennsylvania compared to billionaires who made their fortunes off of us.”
Rep. Liz Fiedler said:
“Our present tax systems were formed a century ago, when the idea of a website based in California selling ads for a clothing company in New York to someone watching a YouTube video in Allentown was inconceivable. Big Tech companies have gotten a free pass for too long selling our data for profit, and our tax system simply needs a 21st century update so they pay their fair share back to Pennsylvanians.”
Senator Katie Muth said:
“The legislators here today are collectively demanding that state government leaders implement a fair tax system. This is our government, not a trust fund for billionaire bros and their enablers. We are now in a 121-day budget impasse, and still proposals to generate additional revenue to ensure a fair tax system are being ignored to protect special interests. If state leaders would implement proposals requiring big corporations to pay their fair share in taxes, we could fairly and adequately fund our schools, emergency services, public transit, infrastructure and so much more – without asking working Pennsylvanians to carry all the weight. Working Pennsylvanians – nurses, bus drivers, teachers, electricians, emergency response workers – all pay more taxes than these corporate giants. Pennsylvanians deserve fairness and dignity. It’s time for decision makers in the halls of power to take action.”
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Pennsylvanians for Accountability for Yass, Billionaires and Corporations (PAYBAC) is a coalition led by the Action Center on Race and the Economy, Center for Coalfield Justice, Free the Ballot, Little Sis, Make the Road PA, One Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Stands Up, and PA Working Families Power. Other coalition partners include SEIU State Council, SEIU 668 and SEIU Healthcare PA.