PA House: On the Budget, It's Time to Get Real

Today, after weeks of warning, Standard & Poor’s downgraded Pennsylvania’s credit rating. This will lead to higher interest costs and, thus, tax increases at all levels of government, perhaps for years to come. The reason for the downgrade is that the General Assembly has not passed legislation to fund the state budget this year that includes sufficient recurring revenues to pay for the ongoing costs of state government.

Pennsylvania needs new revenues we can count on year after year to fund education and human services. That means a shale tax on natural gas drillers.

Voters, like the credit agencies, understand that Pennsylvania does not need an irresponsible plan — like the one passed by the House last week — that includes phantom revenues and stealth cuts to program that support public transportation, environmental protection, public safety or job creation, that will not truly balance the budget this year, and that will leave us at least with a $1 billion deficit to fill at the start of next year. Nor does it need a crazy plan to sell tobacco settlement payments for a fraction of what they are worth.

The General Fund was depleted on September 15, forcing Governor Wolf to delay payments to Medicaid providers and pension funds. Without action by the General Assembly on a real plan to fund the budget, Governor Wolf will be forced to cut discretionary spending 12%.

That would mean:
  • Reducing education funding by roughly the same $1 billion cut by Governor Corbett in 2011. That cut led to a reduction of over 20,000 teachers, school librarians, and guidance counselors in the state, even after local property taxes were increased to mitigate some of the damage. Find out how much would be cut in your district here.
  • Elimination of funding for Penn State, Pitt, Lincoln, and Temple Universities and reduction of funding for the PASSHE schools, leading to huge tuition increases at Pennsylvania’s colleges and universities.
  • Sharp reductions to early childhood and special education programs. About 3,300 pre-school slots will be eliminated.
  • Deep cuts in funding for human services for people with intellectual disabilities, mental health and substance abuse issues, and those who need child care or help finding a job or securing funds for more. Funding for critical access hospitals and burn centers in rural will be drastically cut.
  • The Department of Environmental Protection will not be able to protect our air and water quality.
  • Thousands of state workers could lose their jobs or be furloughed, crippling local economies especially in rural areas.
Pennsylvanians must demand action on the budget before the worst consequences of the budget crises are felt.