Governor’s Budget Veto Puts Many State Programs in Jeopardy
Because of Gov. Tom Wolf’s decision to veto the
entire state budget presented to him by the General Assembly on June 30, nearly $13 billion in state funds is being withheld from state agencies and organizations that deliver critical services.
This shutdown of state government is taking place because the governor did not agree with a relatively small portion of the state budget approved by the General Assembly. In fact, the General Assembly supported the governor on nearly 70 percent of the items in his proposed budget. In some instances the budget we proposed allocated more funding for line items than the governor’s proposal.
In the past, most governors, realizing that budget negotiations are a give-and-take process, vetoed only the portions of the budget they disagreed with so the state government could continue to operate while negotiations progressed. Instead, Wolf has chosen to veto the entire budget plan and cause something of a crisis for the many critical programs and services the General Assembly and governor actually agreed upon.
The budget the governor chose to veto would have provided increased funding for education, always a top priority for the General Assembly, including an additional $100 million for basic education, $20 million for special education, and $30 million for early childhood education. In addition, $10 million for the state’s Veterans Homes, $96 million for home and community-based services, and $41 million for services to persons with disabilities are only some of the many increases we were able to provide under our plan by eliminating waste and reallocating money to make it work smarter and go further. Most importantly, all of this would have been achieved
without any new or increased taxes.
Our plan was a stark contrast to Wolf’s budget plan which increased spending by unprecedented amounts to be paid for through massive tax hikes on Pennsylvania citizens. In fact, he has proposed the largest tax increase in Pennsylvania history, with the bulk of the more than $4.5 BILLION of the funding for his spending increase coming from higher income taxes and an increased and expanded sales tax, impacting the hard-working people of Pennsylvania - YOU and ME, the taxpayers.
His tax-and-spend plan is so unpopular that every single Republican and Democrat cast a no vote when it came before the state House in early June.
Unfortunately, while we are working to resolve our differences and come to a workable budget agreement, a long list of agencies, organizations, programs and services will not have access to needed state funding – including schools, hospitals and human services providers. To see a complete list of General Fund appropriations that will either in whole or in part have funds withheld as a result of his blanket veto, go to
JulieHarhart.com and click on the “2015-2016 Budget Information” banner. The link to the list of services and organizations impacted by the governor’s budget veto is at the top of the page.
Representative Julie Harhart
183rd District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Tricia Lehman
717.772.9840
tlehman@pahousegop.com
JulieHarhart.com