Pennsylvania House Finance Committee Takes Up Digital Ad Tax as Push to Tax Billionaires Gains Steam
HARRISBURG – As Big Tech giants plan massive data centers across the state and generate enormous wealth from Pennsylvanians’ data and attention, a digital ad tax bill moving through the Pennsylvania legislature aims to make large tech companies pay their fair share.
The Pennsylvania House Finance Committee held a hearing today on a digital advertising tax (H.B. 1678) on Big Tech companies like Google, Meta, Amazon and TikTok, marking a milestone advancing the Tax Billionaires, Fund PA revenue plan. The committee hearing moves the digital ad tax bill closer to a floor vote and puts Pennsylvania on track to secure approximately $500 million in new, recurring revenue at a moment when communities across the state face devastating federal budget cuts.
The digital ad tax is a cornerstone of the Tax Billionaires, Fund PA package, which would raise nearly $6 billion in new revenue by closing corporate tax loopholes, taxing billionaires’ unearned income, and requiring Big Tech to pay for the digital ads that profit off Pennsylvania consumers and their data. The campaign, coordinated by PAYBAC and backed by a coalition of unions and community organizations, has secured cosponsorship from 41 Pennsylvania legislators, and is a direct response to a state revenue crisis made worse by the federal cuts that have already gutted programs working people depend on.
Ray Murphy, co-leader of Pennsylvanians for Accountability from Yass, Billionaires and Corporations (PAYBAC) which leads the Tax Billionaires, Fund PA campaign, said:
“The same tech billionaires building data centers, driving up our utility bills, and polluting our air and water are also profiting from digital ads that clutter our screens, all while pushing the budget cuts that have kicked 130,000 Pennsylvanians off Pennie and 89,000 off SNAP. Big companies that make money in Pennsylvania should pay taxes here. The digital ad tax makes that happen, and helps ensure Big Tech cannot keep profiting off Pennsylvanians while enjoying a free ride at our expense.”
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Pennsylvanians for Accountability from Yass, Billionaires and Corporations (PAYBAC) Table is a coalition of state-wide organizations that lead the All Eyes on Yass and Tax Billionaires, Fund PA campaigns.
Tax Billionaires, Fund PA is endorsed by the Action Center on Race and the Economy, Center for Coalfield Justice, Free the Ballot, Little Sis, Make the Road PA, One Pennsylvania, PA United, Pennsylvania Stands Up, PA Local Progress, PA Working Families Power, SEIU State Council, SEIU 32BJ, SEIU 668 and SEIU Healthcare PA.
Additional supporters include: 1Hood, 215 People’s Alliance, American Federation of Teacher Local 2026, Asian Pacific Islander Political Alliance (API PA), Healing Communities PA, High School Democrats of Philadelphia, Philly Black Worker Project, Pennsylvania Immigration Coalition, Philadelphia Neighborhood Networks, Philadelphia Unemployment Project, Reclaim Philadelphia, Transit for All PA!, UUJusticePA and VietLead.
The PAYBAC Table Steering Committee includes ACRE Campaigns, PA Working Families, POWER, PA Stands Up, OnePA, Free the Ballot, Make the Road Action PA and more.
