Jun. 22, 2018
BENTLEYVILLE – While emphasizing the many positive reasons why he supported House passage of the 2018-19 state budget on Wednesday, Rep. Bud Cook (R-Washington/Fayette) also shared his concerns about the Commonwealth’s ongoing spending problems.
“First and foremost, I voted for this year’s on-time state budget because it does not increase the economic burden on hard-working District 49 taxpayers and job creators,” said Cook. “Once again, the governor’s massive tax increase proposals have been rejected. There are also many historic investments for the education of our future leaders, pre-K all the way through college, and for public safety. Thanks to responsible fiscal management, led by House Republicans over the past several years, there is now a $20 million surplus which will be set aside to restore the state’s Rainy Day Fund.”
Watch Rep. Cook’s full budget comments by clicking here.
The $32.7 billion no-tax-increase 2018-19 spending plan reflects an increase of 1.7 percent over the current year, which is below the rate of inflation. This year’s budget invests a record-high $12.3 billion in preK-12 education, including a $100 million increase for basic education funding, $25 million more for early childhood education and $15 million more for special education, and $30 million will be invested in career and technical education to help prepare students for the jobs of today and tomorrow.
Additionally, a new $60 million block grant program will allow schools across the Commonwealth to have equal and flexible access for funding school safety initiatives. This funding will be made available for such priorities as school resource officers, metal detectors, school safety assessments and pre-planning, and other facility upgrades to ensure a safe learning environment.
The 2018-19 state budget also includes increased public safety funding for ambulance companies, training more state police troopers and supplying services for families impacted by the opioid crisis.
“The recent upswing in our economy, thanks in large part to the Trump tax cuts, has allowed us to increase total spending for many important education, health and safety programs,” said Cook. “We must not lose sight that our state budget process is still suffering from a spending problem, not a revenue problem. The only sure way to eliminate excessive spending is to move completely to zero-based budgeting, where spending for all programs is considered based on performance, rather than the status quo automatic approval simply because individual line items were included in the previous year’s budget.”
49th Legislative District
Representative Bud Cook
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Ty McCauslin
717.772.9979
RepBudCook.com /
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