Published in the Bucks County Courier Times, by James McGinnis

September 23, 2014

With just six weeks left in the campaign, Republicans in Bucks County and beyond are hunting for some hypocrisy in the tax returns and business practices of Democrat for governor Tom Wolf.

On Tuesday, Bucks Commissioners Robert Loughery and Charley Martin joined a slew of other Republicans statewide in calling for the release of 10 years of personal and corporate tax returns by Wolf, who ran his family’s business in York County for nearly 30 years.

Wolf maintains a healthy lead in both campaign cash and in recent polls pitting him against incumbent Gov. Tom Corbett on Nov. 4. The two held their first of three debates Monday in Hershey.

“Tom Wolf has made a pretty big deal of his business experience. I think we deserve to know more about the thing he espouses the most,” said Loughery, speaking outside Bucks County Republican Committee headquarters in Doylestown.

Martin said Wolf planned to raise taxes on wealthier Pennsylvanians if elected. “It seems to me a little hypocritical for Mr. Wolf to call for higher taxes when he’s made a history of paying less in taxes,” Martin said.

Bucks County GOP Chair Pat Poprik hearkened back to the contest between President Barack Obama and then-Republican challenger Mitt Romney. At the time, numerous Democrats had called on Romney to release his tax records, Poprik said.

“I think someone seeking election to the highest office in this commonwealth should be showing the people of Pennsylvania what he does with his money, how he treats his business, and any tax advantages he takes,” Poprik said.

The Wolf campaign said it released four years of personal tax returns in April. Regular media events staged by Republicans serve only to “distract voters” from Corbett’s “dismal record on education and the economy,” said Mark Nicastre, Wolf spokesman.

Some tax information is available for both gubernatorial candidates.

Visitors to Corbett’s campaign site can download copies of tax returns going back to 2009. In 2013, the governor reported $200,387 income and paid $35,930, more than 17 percent, in taxes, according to the documents.

Wolf requested an extension to file his 2013 tax returns. His 2012 return (emailed to the newspaper) showed $2.2 million personal income, $408,977 in charitable donations and $263,480, more than 11 percent, paid in taxes.

The newspaper also asked Bucks County’s Republican commissioners whether they, as elected officials, would release to the public 10 years of their own tax returns.

Loughery said he’d probably do it.

“Good luck in understanding my tax returns,” he said.

Martin said he did not believe the office of the Bucks County commissioner should warrant the same level of scrutiny as a potential candidate for governor.

(James McGinnis, "Bucks Republicans want peek at Tom Wolf's tax records," Bucks County Courier Times, 9/23/14)