Editor\u2019s note: We are publishing a series of fact-checks of advertisements in the Pennsylvania 8th Congressional District race between incumbent Republican Congressman Rob Bresnahan of Dallas Twp. and Democratic challenger, Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti. The election is key for both major parties\u2019 hopes of holding a House majority the next two years.<\/p>\n
This 30-second ad was paid for by Rob For PA, Bresnahan\u2019s official campaign, and was approved by the candidate.<\/p>\n
A brief clip of a story aired by local TV outlet WNEP opens the ad, as then-anchor Sharla McBride says, \u201cResidents are upset over the rain tax.\u201d That leads into a clip from a meeting with a man leading a chant of \u201cWe want it gone!\u201d and a sound bite from the station\u2019s Talkback 16 feature from a caller who asks, \u201cWhat is going on now? Taxing because it rains? Do you know how insane this sounds?\u201d<\/p>\n
Bresnahan, standing in front of a pond, says he gets those kinds of calls \u201call the time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Because of that, he announces, he took the debate over the so-called rain tax to \u201cthe D.C. swamp, and won,\u201d as a graphic that reads \u201cEnded the Rain Tax\u201d flashes briefly on the screen.<\/p>\n
A photo of Bresnahan smiling over the right shoulder of President Donald Trump appears as Bresnahan says, \u201cWe ended the federal rain tax mandate.\u201d The voice of a veteran local TV news anchor, WBRE and WYOU\u2019s Mark Hiller, is heard over a video of Bresnahan giving an interview, saying, \u201cCongressman Rob Bresnahan has reversed the rain tax.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bresnahan closes the ad by insisting he will \u201calways fight for Northeastern Pennsylvania and work to keep more money in your pocket.\u201d<\/p>\n
Key claim<\/p>\n
Bresnahan says he and President Trump ended the federal rain tax mandate, with parallel claims that they \u201cended the rain tax.\u201d<\/p>\n
Is it factual?<\/p>\n
The ad is misleading at best.<\/p>\n
Trump indeed signed an executive order on Sept. 16 that revoked<\/a> the Chesapeake Bay Protection and Restoration order<\/a> signed in 2009 by then-President Barak Obama. So, Bresnahan\u2019s claim that the federal rain tax mandate was ended is accurate.<\/p>\n What the ad left muddied is the reality that ending the mandate and ending the tax are two very different things.<\/p>\n Several claims in the ad, as well as an altered sound bite from Hiller, insisting those fees ended due to Trump\u2019s order are false.<\/p>\n Pennsylvania law still requires municipalities to manage stormwater runoff and reduce pollution entering local streams and waterways. Changing that would require \u201cadditional action or direction from the appropriate state authorities,\u201d Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority CEO Andy Reilly told The Citizens Voice.<\/a>\u00a0Reilly added that the authority would continue to administer a regional program in which 35 municipalities near and along the Susquehanna River in Luzerne County participate.<\/p>\n WBRE and WYOU pointed out that the clip used from their 6 p.m. news broadcast on Sept. 16<\/a> was \u201caltered to produce a different message than was originally reported.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n