DN Editorial: No-tax ideas for Corbett

REP. BILL ADOLPH, chairman of the state House Appropriations Committee, last week gave his tentative blessing to Pennsylvania's joining a multistate agreement to go after sales taxes on online purchases. If Pennsylvania signs up, the state could potentially share in more than $700 million in new revenue.

That's good news for Gov. Corbett, facing a budget shortfall of $4 billion during this fiscal year. Corbett pledged during the campaign to close the gap without raising taxes. Collecting additional sales-tax revenue can be spun as keeping that promise while generating new revenue.

We're glad to see Republican lawmakers offering Corbett opportunities to be flexible on taxes. The state budget shortfall is immense, and relying on cuts alone to fill the gap would be catastrophic for many programs.

Here's another sales-tax idea: Eliminate 74 exemptions in the state sales tax on dry cleaning, gold bullion and helicopters.

Gov. Rendell, who originally pushed the idea, calculated that the move would generate more than $500 million in revenue annually. Corbett shouldn't be afraid to resurrect the idea. *