Aug. 10, 2015
The fact is, it’s now August, and Pennsylvania still has no state budget.
As most state business has continued as normal without a budget, the majority of people don’t realize that Pennsylvania is playing a game of financial limbo at the expense of some of our most vulnerable citizens. This comes as a result of an irresponsible decision, made solely by Gov. Tom Wolf, who on July 1 chose to veto the entire balanced budget my colleagues in the General Assembly passed in late June. Since that time, no real progress has been made.
Right now, our state is largely running on reserves and leftover money from last year is paying the bills. This course of action will continue for a short time longer, until the money runs out, and things take a turn for the worst. We will see our human service organizations and nonprofits, including those that educate our kids and assist victims of rape and domestic violence, shut down because they can’t operate without funding. Further, if no budget is passed by September, schools across the state have reported they too will suffer.
The governor continues to travel the state to sell the budget plan he proposed, but he only touts all the wonderful things on which he wants to spend more money. He continually fails to mention the massive tax increases that would crush taxpayers as a result of that spending. Perhaps that’s why the House unanimously voted against the governor’s tax plan when it was brought up on June 1. The governor’s tax proposal, at nearly $5 billion, is greater than those of the other 49 states combined! And that is in the first year alone. It more than doubles in the second year.
Simply put, the governor’s budget plan doesn’t fight for the middle class, it doesn’t lower taxes, and it doesn’t fairly distribute more funding for our schools. His plan would deepen our state deficit, and massively increase taxes on hard-working Pennsylvanians. Let’s stop with the campaign-style gimmicks he’s proposing and establish a budget that funds our state’s core needs.
The budget plan the governor supports involves more taxes, including a massive expansion of the state’s sales tax. However, I support establishing a final budget that respects the taxpayers and supports the core functions of government.
Representative Kurt Masser
107th District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
RepMasser.com /
Facebook.com/RepMasser