Causer Votes ‘Yes’ to Emergency State Funding for Schools, Human Service Providers
HARRISBURG – With schools and human service agencies struggling due to the lack of a state budget, Rep. Martin Causer (R-Turtlepoint) today voted in favor of providing them with emergency funding.
“While it’s frustrating to all of us that we don’t have a full budget in place, the fact is the governor and the Legislature are still pretty far apart on what taxpayers can afford,” Causer said. “Rather than putting students and people who rely on human service programs at risk while negotiations continue, the bills we passed today would ensure these vital organizations and agencies get the funding they need to keep their doors open.”
The budget bills passed by the House on Thursday would provide funding of about $11 billion to cover appropriations for the first four months of the fiscal year, from July 1 to Oct. 31. The emergency funding bill also would allow $24.3 billion in federal dollars to reach their intended recipients, and higher education grants and county child welfare would receive 50 percent of their anticipated funding for the 2015-16 fiscal year.
“I strongly encourage Gov. Tom Wolf to do the right thing for students, families and human services consumers – as well as taxpayers as a whole – and sign this short-term budget,” Causer said.
Pennsylvania has gone nearly three months without an enacted state budget since the balanced, no-tax-hike plan approved by the General Assembly in late June was fully vetoed by the governor. After seeing little progress in negotiations, the House convened in August and attempted to override the governor’s veto of some of the line items, primarily those in which the Legislature’s budget either met or exceeded what the governor had proposed. However, no House Democrats would support the effort, and the override attempts failed.
Causer said the sticking point in the budget remains the governor’s plans to increase taxes and spending by nearly $5 billion in the current fiscal year and by more than $12 billion over the next two years.
“Many people who talk to me about the budget tell me they cannot afford the 20 percent increase in personal income taxes or the 10 percent increase in the sales tax rate, not to mention the governor’s proposal to apply the higher sales tax to hundreds of additional products and services,” Causer said. “I will not support a budget that is going to place such a significant burden on the people I represent, so we need to continue talking with the governor until he recognizes Pennsylvanians cannot afford his spending plan and then works with us to develop a more affordable and responsible proposal.”
Senate Bills 1000 and 1001 were approved by the Senate last week and now await the governor’s signature to become law.
Representative Martin T. Causer
67th District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Patricia A. Hippler
phippler@pahousegop.com
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