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PENNSYLVANIA
RESTAURANT & LODGING
matters
•
Winter 2017
LEGISLATIVE
CORNER
State Items
STATE
NEW SESSION
All newly elected state legislators were sworn into office
on January 3. The Republicans hold majorities in both
chambers (the largest majorities the state has ever seen)
with the Senate comprised of 34 Republicans and 16
Democrats, while the House has 122 Republicans and
81 Democrats.
WHAT TO EXPECT
Upon seeing the writing on the wall (see above), Gov. Wolf
has announced that he will not include any broad-based
tax increases in his budget proposal this year. Instead, he
will work on cutting certain areas to balance the budget.
The question remains: What will he cut?
PROPERTY TAX REFORM
Pressure is mounting and another vote is expected
on eliminating school property taxes across the
Commonwealth. This would be done by expanding and
increasing the sales tax and significantly increasing the
personal income tax. PRLA is still concerned by the
proposal because the projected numbers don’t seem to
add up. The projections from the increased taxes are not
enough to eliminate the total amount of school property
taxes and the legislation doesn’t completely prevent
school districts from raising their local taxes again—even
after elimination. The Government Affairs Committee will
take a firm position on this legislation soon.
PREEMPTION LEGISLATION
As more and more local municipalities look toward
passing a variety of piecemeal mandates on businesses
across the Commonwealth, PRLA is planning to refile our
legislation that preempts mandated paid leave, but this
time expanding the language to preempt other business
mandates, too. PRLA maintains that a patchwork of
different laws across the Commonwealth is not good for
the state or for business.
LIQUOR LEGISLATION
With the passage of Act 39 and Act 166 last year, we are
already beginning to work on concepts for the next piece
of alcohol reform legislation for the 2017/2018 session. The
PRLA Alcohol Service Committee will be key in determining
the association’s liquor priorities this year.
ONLINE HOME SHARING
The Pennsylvania Association of Bed & Breakfast Inns
(PABBI) and PRLA are beginning to explore legislation that
would balance the playing field between Pennsylvania’s
bed & breakfasts and those individuals that list their
homes on home-sharing websites.
STATEWIDE TOURISM FUNDING
Increasing statewide tourism funding will continue to be a
key priority of the PRLA in the new legislative session. The
association is evaluating several different funding options
and hope to champion a solution as part of the budget
this year.
FEDERAL
LOCAL