Jun. 20, 2018
HARRISBURG – House Republicans passed an on-time budget with bipartisan support that meets the needs of Pennsylvanians without raising taxes on hardworking taxpayers, said Rep. Doyle Heffley (R-Carbon).
The $32.7 billion budget increases education funding to $12.3 billion, with an additional $60 million set aside for school safety. A $30 million increase for Career and Technical Education would ensure students have the skills needed to compete in today’s workforce. The budget also includes a 3 percent increase for higher education, including community colleges.
“The budget provides additional resources to combat the opioid epidemic. It also includes increases for ambulance services and provides funding for an additional 285 state police troopers to protect our communities,” Heffley said. “The budget also increases funding for veteran’s service across our Commonwealth, all while insuring Pennsylvania meets its responsibly to fund its pension system.”
The budget also limits spending and increase by only 1.7 percent over the previous year. That is well below the rate of inflation, which is nearly 2.4 percent.
“By holding the line on taxes here in Pennsylvania and thanks to the Trump Administration in Washington, our economy has been able to grow naturally. This shows our free market economy can thrive when government stays out of the private sector and doesn’t overtax and overregulate our residents,” Heffley said. “We have outright rejected Gov. Tom Wolf’s calls for new or increased taxes again this year. Over the past three budgets, we have saved each Pennsylvanian more than $600, or more than $2,400 for a family of four.”
Representative Doyle Heffley
122nd District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives