PRINTER'S NO. 1892
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE RESOLUTION
No. 334
Session of
2024
INTRODUCED BY COLEMAN, K. WARD, PITTMAN, MARTIN, AUMENT,
PHILLIPS-HILL, HUTCHINSON, DiSANTO, DUSH, MASTRIANO AND
ROTHMAN, SEPTEMBER 18, 2024
REFERRED TO RULES AND EXECUTIVE NOMINATIONS, SEPTEMBER 18, 2024
A RESOLUTION
1 Directing the President of the Senate to instruct the Sergeant-
2 at-Arms to bring Patrick M. Browne, Secretary of Revenue,
3 before the bar of the Senate for refusal to comply with a
4 subpoena issued by the Committee on Intergovernmental
5 Operations.
6 WHEREAS, The right to investigate in order to acquire factual
7 knowledge concerning particular subjects which will, or may, aid
8 the legislators in their efforts to determine if, or in what
9 manner, they should exercise their powers, is an inherent right
10 of a legislative body, ancillary to, but distinct from, such
11 powers; and
12 WHEREAS, It is well established that a function of
13 legislative committees is to find facts and to make
14 recommendations to the legislature for remedial legislation and
15 other appropriate action; and
16 WHEREAS, The Legislative Budget and Finance Committee, under
17 the act of August 4, 1959 (P.L.587, No.195), is authorized:
18 (1) to perform all duties and functions relating to the
19 study of the revenues, expenditures and fiscal problems of
 1 the Commonwealth, its officers, boards, committees,
2 commissions, institutions and other State agencies;
3 (2) to request, receive, review, examine, study,
4 ascertain and compare fiscal information concerning the
5 Commonwealth's revenues and make recommendations to the
6 legislature; and
7 (3) to make current examination and, when pertinent,
8 reports concerning the current condition of all State funds,
9 appropriations and other money, whether or not such
10 appropriations are being currently expended for the purposes
11 and within the statutory restrictions provided by the
12 legislature;
13 and
14 WHEREAS, The Senate, through the unanimous adoption of Senate
15 Resolution No. 110, Printer's No. 704, of the 207th Regular
16 Session of the General Assembly, directed the Legislative Budget
17 and Finance Committee to conduct a performance audit of the
18 Neighborhood Improvement Zone and Allentown Neighborhood
19 Improvement Zone Development Authority programs administered by
20 the Department of Revenue; and
21 WHEREAS, The recitals enumerated in Senate Resolution No. 110
22 established the Senate's interest in future legislative action
23 relating to the Neighborhood Improvement Zone and the need for a
24 performance audit of the tax zone and associated programs to aid
25 the Senate in evaluating the proper course for remedial
26 legislation and other appropriate action; and
27 WHEREAS, On February 26, 2024, the officers of the
28 Legislative Budget and Finance Committee unanimously adopted
29 Senate Resolution No. 110 and accepted the task of conducting a
30 performance audit of the Neighborhood Improvement Zone and
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 1 Allentown Neighborhood Improvement Zone Development Authority
2 programs administered by the Department of Revenue; and
3 WHEREAS, The Department of Revenue refused multiple
4 subsequent requests from the Legislative Budget and Finance
5 Committee for documentation of aggregated Neighborhood
6 Improvement Zone attributable tax information and asserted that
7 the requested tax documents were confidential information under
8 section 731 of the act of April 9, 1929 (P.L.343, No.176), known
9 as The Fiscal Code; and
10 WHEREAS, At the request of the Legislative Budget and Finance
11 Committee, the non-partisan Legislative Reference Bureau issued
12 an independent legal opinion finding that the plain language of
13 section 731 of The Fiscal Code permits the release of the
14 requested information to the Committee, and that the Committee's
15 request falls under the "official purposes" exception to the
16 confidentiality enumerated under section 731 of The Fiscal Code;
17 and
18 WHEREAS, The Legislative Budget and Finance Committee
19 provided the Department of Revenue with the written legal
20 opinion of the Legislative Reference Bureau that the information
21 requested fell within the "official purposes" exception of
22 section 731 of The Fiscal Code and made further assurances that
23 the Committee would maintain strict confidentiality internally
24 with regard to all documentation provided by the Department to
25 no avail; and
26 WHEREAS, The Department of Revenue has persisted in its
27 refusal to provide the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee
28 with the requested documentation of each category of aggregated
29 Neighborhood Improvement Zone attributable taxes reported to the
30 Department in accordance with the requested performance audit
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 1 under Senate Resolution No. 110; and
2 WHEREAS, The Committee on Intergovernmental Operations,
3 pursuant to Rule No. 14(d) of the Rules of the Senate of
4 Pennsylvania for the 207th and 208th Regular Session, is
5 authorized to issue subpoenas, subpoenas duces tecum and other
6 necessary process to compel the attendance of witnesses and the
7 production of any books, letters or other documentary evidence
8 desired by the Committee in order to carry out its duties; and
9 WHEREAS, Rule No. 14(d) also empowers the standing committees
10 of the Senate with the right and authority to inspect and
11 investigate the books, records, papers, documents, data,
12 operation and physical plan of any public agency in the
13 Commonwealth in order to carry out their duties; and
14 WHEREAS, On July 10, 2024, and in accordance with the
15 procedure and scope of authority set forth in Rule No. 14(d),
16 the Committee on Intergovernmental Operations issued a subpoena,
17 ordering Patrick M. Browne, Secretary of Revenue, to produce, no
18 later than by Friday, August 16, 2024, at 4:00 p.m.,
19 documentation of aggregated Neighborhood Improvement Zone
20 attributable taxes reported to the Department of Revenue for the
21 period January 1, 2011, through December 31, 2023, on an annual
22 basis, and by type, including:
23 (1) Corporate Net Income Tax.
24 (2) Capital Stock/Foreign Franchise Tax.
25 (3) Bank Shares Tax.
26 (4) Gross Premiums Tax.
27 (5) Sales, Use and Hotel Occupancy Tax.
28 (6) Employer Withholding Tax.
29 (7) Gross Receipts Tax.
30 (8) Unemployment Compensation.
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 1 (9) Realty Transfer Tax.
2 (10) Cigarette Tax.
3 (11) Tobacco Products Tax.
4 (12) Vehicle Rental Tax/Public Transportation
5 Assistance.
6 (13) Vehicle Lease Tax/Public Transportation Assistance.
7 (14) Personal Income Tax.
8 (15) Malt Beverage Tax.
9 (16) Contractor Sales and Use Tax.
10 (17) Pennsylvania Sales and Use Tax Paid on the Purchase
11 of Tangible Personal Property or Services.
12 (18) Title Insurance Company Shares Tax.
13 (19) Net Income Tax.
14 (20) Malt or Brewed Beverage Tax - Excise and Sales Tax.
15 (21) Liquor/Wine Excise and Sales Tax.
16 (22) Any additional applicable State taxes not included
17 above;
18 and
19 WHEREAS, The subpoena issued by the Committee on
20 Intergovernmental Operations was consistent with and duplicative
21 of the prior request made to the Department of Revenue by the
22 Legislative Budget and Finance Committee; and
23 WHEREAS, The Department of Revenue, under the direction of
24 Patrick M. Browne, Secretary of Revenue, refused to produce in
25 full the documentation ordered under the subpoena, citing the
26 same confidentiality provisions within section 731 of The Fiscal
27 Code; and
28 WHEREAS, The Senate takes cognizance that the defiance of
29 Patrick M. Browne, Secretary of Revenue, in refusing to fully
30 comply with the order of the subpoena issued by the Committee on
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 1 Intergovernmental Operations and served upon him on July 10,
2 2024, requires the Senate to bring Patrick M. Browne before the
3 bar of the Senate to hear from him and to determine whether or
4 not, in the opinion of the Senate, he is in contempt; therefore
5 be it
6 RESOLVED, That pursuant to the authority granted under
7 section 11 of Article II of the Constitution of Pennsylvania,
8 and in accordance with the provisions of the act of June 13,
9 1842 (P.L.491, No.19), the Senate directs the President of the
10 Senate, or, in his absence, the President pro tempore of the
11 Senate, to instruct the Sergeant-at-Arms to bring Patrick M.
12 Browne, Secretary of Revenue, before the bar of the Senate
13 within three legislative days; and be it further
14 RESOLVED, That if Patrick M. Browne continues in his refusal
15 to produce the documentation ordered to be supplied under the
16 subpoena issued by the Committee on Intergovernmental
17 Operations, that he may be declared in contempt of the Senate
18 and thereby committed to the prison of Dauphin County until
19 November 30, 2024, unless he sooner purges himself of such
20 contempt by producing the ordered documentation in compliance
21 with the said subpoena.
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