Pennsylvania’s Capitol building in Harrisburg. (Photo by Amanda Berg for the Capital-Star)
After weeks of saber rattling and legal battles, Revenue Secretary Pat Browne appeared before the Pennsylvania Senate and submitted himself to questions over why he had refused to provide lawmakers with certain tax data collected in the Allentown Neighborhood Improvement Zone (NIZ).
The testimony marks at least the temporary end to a months-long standoff with Senate Republicans that could have ended with Browne’s arrest for being in contempt of the Senate. Little new information regarding the tax data sought by lawmakers was revealed, but Browne agreed to work with senators to increase transparency around the NIZ.
“This is all about trying to decide what’s next in this process,” said Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman (R-Indiana), while questioning Browne.
For his part, Browne sought to assure lawmakers that he had provided them with as much data as was legal.
“We want to be as transparent as possible,” he testified.
The NIZ was created by the Legislature when Browne was still a state senator. Browne was, in fact, a driving force behind it. The intention was to revive the downtown area of Allentown, which he represented, by allowing property owners to use taxes collected from businesses in the zone to pay off interest on certain construction loans.
In 2021, when a local newspaper sought tax records from businesses in the zone, Browne led an effort to amend the legislation to exempt the records’ disclosure.
Browne was defeated in a Republican primary by current Sen. Jarett Coleman (R-Lehigh) in 2022. Since being elected to the Senate, Coleman has pushed for an audit of the Allentown NIZ. This year, the joint Legislative Budget and Finance Committee began such an audit, with a stated goal of ensuring the program was serving its intended purpose, aiding Allentown by attracting new businesses and not simply siphoning them from nearby areas.
When the committee requested aggregate data on certain taxes paid within the zone, Browne said he was unable to comply because of confidentiality requirements. In his testimony Tuesday, Browne said he was unable to provide aggregated data on eight of the tax categories requested by lawmakers because so few businesses paid into them that he would have effectively been handing over private information. Moreover, the law did not allow such information to be given under the circumstances.
At one point during Coleman’s questioning, Browne said that the Neighborhood Improvement Zone Development Authority had been unable to conduct annual audits.
“I am disgusted to have learned today in testimony from Secretary Browne that the Allentown Neighborhood Improvement Zone Development Authority has been violating state law for over a decade,” Coleman said in a statement regarding the audits. He added that lawmakers will have to determine future steps.
Browne said he could help lawmakers by providing statutory language that may allow for audits, if passed by the legislature.
Coleman and the joint Legislative Budget and Finance Committee had been requesting data on the Neighborhood Improvement Zone since early this year. The Intergovernmental Operations Committee, chaired by Coleman, sent a subpoena to Browne in July after he had denied initial requests for the data.
Earlier this month, the Department of Revenue filed a lawsuit with the Commonwealth Court in an attempt to block the subpoena requiring Browne’s testimony. The court ruled against him and the Supreme Court rejected an appeal, all but ensuring he would either have to appear or face jail time.
In 2023, Gov. Josh Shapiro chose Browne, a Republican, to serve in his cabinet as revenue secretary. The move was an effort at bipartisan conciliation — one that ironically led to Republicans in the chamber where Browne once served threatening his arrest.
Asked earlier Tuesday about threats to lock Browne up, Shapiro stood by Browne and said he “has been able to provide as much information as he is legally permitted to do.”
The push to compel Browne’s testimony, and to threaten his arrest were he not to appear, was largely a partisan one. On Oct. 8, the Senate passed a resolution on party lines to compel Browne’s testimony after he failed to provide the data sought by lawmakers via subpoena.
However, Browne’s testimony ended with Majority Leader Pittman at least expressing encouragement.
“What I find most encouraging from this process is we now have some areas where you are coming to the table,” Pittman said regarding Browne’s apparent willingness to work with lawmakers.