Musings: Wolf’s ‘Catch 22’
It would be easy to blame the Wolf administration. Easy because, yeah, Gov. Wolf unilaterally decided that some businesses — restaurants, mom and pop shops, and others — had to close because of COVID. Some of those businesses wound up closing permanently. Worse still, Pennsylvania — under Wolf — was one of the states that put COVID patients into nursing homes, causing further death. (An estimated 65 percent of COVID deaths in the state were in nursing homes and long-term care facilities. In some counties, it was 80 percent.)
With so many businesses shut down, people could only shop at a few big box stores or buy online. So, what is the Wolf administration doing now? It’s considering putting a tax on home delivery.
Some in the administration want a delivery tax on every package Pennsylvanians get delivered by Amazon, Fed Ex, and UPS. And as some commercials say, “But wait, there’s more.” The state is also considering taxing deliveries from grocery stores and restaurants.
WPXI TV in Pittsburgh reported that a little more than 550 million parcels were shipped to Pennsylvania addresses in 2019. Last year that number was closer to 800 million. All because people couldn’t, or were made to be too afraid, to shop in person
As for the specifics, the tax under consideration is $0.25 per delivery, and it’s for PennDOT, the agency known for its inability to fix potholes. Fewer drivers on the road meant fewer gasoline purchases and a drop in liquid fuels tax revenue. Now, a $0.25 tax is not a lot of money, but it sure does add insult to injury, an injury exacerbated by the governor’s decisions.
To put this into perspective, the governor decided what businesses were allowed to be open, limiting where people could shop, but also made many people too scared to shop in person at stores that were allowed to be open.
People and some businesses adapted. People shopped online to get things they wanted and needed, and grocery stores helped out by offering shop from home delivery services to reduce person-to-person contact, which added to the sense of isolation and often depression for many caused by the lockdown. Now, because the governor put people and businesses into a position of relying on deliveries, the state wants to enact a delivery tax.
Of course, Secretary of Transportation Yasmin Gramian says it all makes sense.
“Anyone who has packages delivered to their front door or uses ridesharing services or shops at a retailer that gives goods delivered by truck are beneficiaries of the national highway system even if they never get behind the wheel of a car,” Gramian reportedly said.
The secretary completely ignores that it was the state that forced the increase in home deliveries. And note she included ridesharing.
Maybe Gov. Tom Wolf is writing his own version of “Catch 22,” where Pennsylvanians are forced to live. First, he sets it up that people need to rely on delivery services, then taxes those services. Is there any tragedy that a government can’t make worse?
About Rich Schwartzman
Rich Schwartzman has been reporting on events in the greater Chadds Ford area since September 2001 when he became the founding editor of The Chadds Ford Post. In April 2009 he became managing editor of ChaddsFordLive. He is also an award-winning photographer.
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