ALLENTOWN, Pa. — A Pennsylvania Senate committee voted Wednesday to subpoena cabinet members of Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration over taxpayer transparency issues, a move that could create a headache for the Democratic rising star.
The state Senate Intergovernmental Operations Committee, in Allentown, Neighborhood Improvement Zones Initiative.
NIZs are districts with special tax incentives created to revitalize post-industrial cities with new development.
State Sen. Jarrett Coleman, a first-term Republican who represents Bucks and Lehigh counties, is a former airline pilot and chairman of the Intergovernmental Operations Committee.
He claims the more than $500 million in taxpayer money NIZ has received since its establishment in 2011 has received little public oversight.
“Allentown NIZ’s sources of revenue, how it spends its funds and the effectiveness of its programs appear to be shrouded in mystery,” said Coleman, who defeated Brown. 2022 Republican Primary Ends To secure a nomination for state senate.
“It is difficult to determine the value of a program when the financial records are largely hidden and secret.”
The committee’s subpoena requires Brown and the Pennsylvania Department of Taxation to provide the Senate by Aug. 16 with a comprehensive breakdown of state taxes collected through Allentown’s NIZ.
Coleman’s attempts to obtain the information began in March 2023, when the state senator made two separate requests to the Department of Revenue.
Coleman’s office told The Post that Brown denied both requests.
Coleman’s office said Brown’s tax department refused to provide all of the tax data for an audit of NIZ’s performance as requested by the state Senate’s Legislative Budget and Finance Committee.
The committee requested the data at least four times this spring, pursuant to a Senate resolution ordering the audit proposed by Coleman.
Shapiro is a popular first-term governor who served as Pennsylvania’s attorney general from 2017-2023.
He has been talked about by some as a possible presidential or vice presidential candidate if President Biden were to replace him in the 2024 election.
As Governor, Governor Shapiro received bipartisan praise for his leadership in the collapse and repair of Interstate 95 in Philadelphia.
He has said he is willing to work across party lines on budget issues such as public school funding, but his own party lawmakers are deeply unhappy with this.
Shapiro has downplayed his national political ambitions and repeatedly stressed that he remains focused on leading Pennsylvania.
