Reps. Mackenzie, Bresnahan, and Perry Have Backed Policies that Benefit the Top 5% At the Expense of the Other 95%

April 15, 2026

PENNSYLVANIA — Today is the first Tax Day following the passage of the Republican Tax Law, the expiration of critical health care tax credits, and Trump’s sweeping tariffs, and working Pennsylvanians will be paying the price while the top 5% benefits. Congressmen Ryan Mackenzie, Rob Bresnahan, and Scott Perry have backed all of these cost-raising measures and more, failing to fight for lower costs for working families in Pennsylvania while enriching the wealthiest Americans.

While these congressmen claim the Republican Taw Law is a “working families tax cut,” analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found that opposite to be true - the legislation primarily benefits the ultra-wealthy at the expense of everyone else. The top 10% of earners will see an average boost of $13,600/year over the next decade, while the bottom 10% will see an average annual decrease of $1,200.

Earlier this year, the nonpartisan Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) released a report highlighting state-by-state estimates of the first year of Trump’s tax policies and found that only Americans in the top 5% will receive a tax cut this year - the other 95% will see tax increases thanks to Trump’s tariffs (95% of which are paid by American consumers), Republicans' failure to extend the critical health care tax credits before their expiration last year, and the Republican Taw Law that disproportionately benefits the rich at the expense of everyone else. In Pennsylvania, the bottom 20% of earners (making an average income of $14,100) will pay 2.7% more in taxes this year, while the top 1% (making an average income of over $2M) will see a 0.2% tax break.

A new report from the ITEP last week further exposes these disparate outcomes, highlighting how these tax policies will also increase taxes paid by middle-income Americans by an average of $900 this year. For the middle 60% of Pennsylvania earners, that number is $770.

Congressmen Mackenzie, Bresnahan, and Perry would be better served actually fighting for lower costs for their constituents, rather than backing cost-raising measures like sweeping tariffs and gutting assistance programs and then lying to their constituents about the outcome. Affordable Pennsylvania urges the congressmen to do so.

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