Newspaper: Time running out for Legislature to act

The Pottstown Mercury laments the fact that the Pennsylvania Legislature is spending the previous few days left on its 2008 calendar debating revisions in the state's dog laws when so many more pressing issues are being ignored.

One of the biggest issues on the back burner is property tax reform, the newspaper says.

From The Mercury editorial:

What has not made the list of legislative highlights is tax reform.

On July 3, Rep. Sam Rohrer, R-Berks, filed a Discharge Resolution signed by 26 fellow lawmakers to have House Bill 1275, the School Property Tax Elimination Act, released from committee and sent to the House floor for debate and an up-or-down vote.

A majority vote of the House on the resolution is needed to force the bill out of committee, and taxpayer activists have been urging citizens to write to their legislators and ask them to approve the resolution.

Taxpayer groups are also urging a vote on House Bill 1299, which calls for a constitutional amendment to forever abolish property taxes as a method for funding public education. Since this is a constitutional amendment, it must be passed by two succeeding sessions of the General Assembly.

Many are still working for tax reform in Pennsylvania, but the majority of legislators are still not getting the message.

Protecting animals from cruelty, helping control malpractice costs, getting an ethics refresher course are all important issues, but with the end of the session approaching, this Legislature could take one historic action that would matter.

Reforming the system of funding schools by abolishing the property tax should be Job One for this Legislature in its waning session. There are just a few days left to make that happen.

Read the full editorial at the newspaper's Web site.