Dec. 24, 2015
HARRISBURG – Rep. Craig Staats (R-Bucks) released the following statement after the Senate sent House Bill 1460, a budget passed by the House on Dec. 8, to Gov. Tom Wolf’s desk. This budget includes additional education funding without broad-based tax increases.
“This is the fifth time we have sent a spending bill to Gov. Wolf, and I encourage him to sign the budget to end this impasse and release critical funding to schools, counties and human service agencies. This is our sixth month without a budget and that is simply unacceptable.
“This has been a historically long budget impasse, but Pennsylvania cannot afford higher sales or income taxes. We have worked hard to ensure that Gov. Wolf did not force a $1.8 billion tax increase on the people of this Commonwealth. Gov. Wolf; It is time to sign the budget, so we can move forward and continue the business of our state.”
House Bill 1460 contains a $100 million increase for Basic Education Funding, a $50 million increase for Ready-to-Learn block grants, a $25 million increase for Pre-K Counts, a $5 million increase for Head Start and a $30 million increase for special education.
Representative Craig Staats
145th Legislative District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives