Conservative Analysis of Liberal Democratic Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf’s First Term

           Pennsylvania’s liberal Democratic Governor, Tom Wolf, was sworn into a second term in mid-January.  A conservative analysis of his first term is centered on his frequent proposals to raise taxes.

            Wolf has called every year for a tax on natural gas extraction—on top of the usual high business taxes they already pay and the “impact fee” they pay, even though the industry is a boon for Pennsylvania.  He has also called for raising income taxes.  The Republican-led General Assembly has thus far thwarted his plans, but Wolf was able to increase spending to a degree.  He blocked the kind of pension reform the Commonwealth needs, but did allow some modest reform for some newly hired employees.  Wolf chose not to eliminate the state alcohol monopoly, which could have netted much revenue, but allowed some liberalization in sales.  Similarly, he avoided necessary welfare reform, making only minor changes.  Wolf continues to fund Planned Parenthood with taxpayer dollars.  There has continued to be an expansion of legalized gambling in Pennsylvania under his administration to find more revenue.  The legalization of certain fireworks, which was intended to increase revenue, was ill-conceived and disastrous in its implementation.

            Wolf was successful at implementing many anti-opioid measures, both through executive action and legislation.  He legalized medical marijuana and liberalized industrial hemp production, but is proposing legalizing recreational marijuana.  Wolf is unfavorable to the right to keep and bear arms, but has not implemented significant anti-gun policies.  He takes the side of organized labor in employment issues.  One significant scandal in Wolf’s administration was the registration of non-citizens to vote.

            There has been no elimination of burdensome real estate taxes in the Commonwealth under the Wolf Administration.  Wolf has stopped the long-planned phase-out of Pennsylvania’s onerous inheritance taxes. 

           Overall, Wolf has continued to advocate for higher taxes in order to fund more spending, while avoiding some of the reforms that would reduce unnecessary spending.  He has instead only made modest fiscal reforms.