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Rapp votes against state budget, cites increase in spending and debt; other local lawmakers vote in favor of spending plan
By MIKE SCHREIBER
Era Associate Editor
One local lawmaker voted against the state budget for the second time in as many years, citing an increase in spending and debt.
Rep. Kathy Rapp, R-Warren, said Sunday afternoon she voted no to the $28.3 billion budget because it continues to drive up spending in an economically fragile time.
“I am concerned with the amount of debt increase, especially with the recent downturn in revenues in the state,” Rapp said, adding she’s happy there won’t be a tax increase and the rainy day fund will remain relatively intact.
The other three local lawmakers ” Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati, R-Brockway, and Reps. Martin Causer, R-Turtlepoint, and Dan Surra, D-Kersey, all voted in favor of the budget.
The new budget represents a $1 billion increase ” 4 percent ” over last year’s spending plan. While it doesn’t call for an increase in taxes, it does use more than $500 million in one-time sources to fill in the gap for declining revenue.
Meanwhile, millions of dollars in bond issues were approved for anything ranging from water and sewer systems to alternative energy and infrastructure, including repairing ailing roads and bridges.
Rapp said she’s also concerned with the growing capital budget, where there was a “huge increase.” She voted against that portion of the budget as well.
“I’m very leery of voting for stadiums in other parts of the state,” Rapp said. “That doesn’t mean that I don’t believe there should be capital projects, which require local matches. I have supported them in the past. But, I didn’t see a reason to increase the capital budget by $800 million.”
According to the budget, $800 million has been allotted for civic redevelopment projects over four years, to be repaid from general tax revenues.
Rapp said she did vote in favor of a $400 million bond to improve water and sewer systems in the state, which also must be repaid from general tax revenues. However, that bond issue must be approved by the voters in an upcoming referendum.
Before the passage of the budget, Senate officials said a $1 billion deficit could appear over the next year, forcing additional cuts or tax increases. The failing national economy has also begun to hit Pennsylvania, slowing state tax collections.
For his part, Scarnati said the Legislature provided a budget “that meets the times.”
“I think that once again, we provided a budget that is in those parameters I set last year,” Scarnati said, including a controlled rate of spending and no new taxes.
Scarnati said a big push from the Senate Republicans was to keep the rainy day funds in tact until they are actually needed.
The lawmaker also believes the budget includes funding that will benefit the state, including investments for bridges, dams and water and sewer systems.
“The communities in the 25th District cannot be saddled with this huge infrastructure cost,” Scarnati said, adding some residents pay $65 to $75 a month for sewage. “It’s just killing communities.”
Causer said while the budget does represent an increase in spending over last year, it falls below the anticipated 4.4 percent rate of inflation for the 2008-09 fiscal year.
“House and Senate Republicans were able to work together to negotiate a plan that spends more than $100 million less than what the governor and House Democrats were pushing,” Causer said. “Just as importantly, this budget includes no new taxes or fees, and we were able to stop the administration from raiding the Rainy Day Fund to pay for the governor’s pet projects.”
Causer said given the state of the national economy and recent downturn in state revenue collections, it was vital to protect the rainy day fund for the future. The state ended the 2007-08 fiscal year with a $167 million surplus.
The lawmaker also said officials worked with the administration to make across-the-board cuts of 1.3 percent of all non-mandated budget line items, representing a cut of more than $500 million from the original budget proposal. Causer said some of those funds were then shifted to items that had been zero-funded by the governor, including the Science in Motion program.
Meanwhile, Surra believes the budget keeps moving Pennsylvania forward.
“The goal of this budget was to maintain, and even improve on, a variety of initiatives that have allowed Pennsylvania to continue moving forward even during the national economic downturn,” Surra said. “In addition to accelerating our commitment to basic and higher education, we are also putting in place an energy strategy that will help Pennsylvania reduce its dependence on foreign oil and save businesses and consumers money.”
Surra also said the budget continues investments in the economic development and infrastructure improvement projects that have been important to northcentral Pennsylvania.
“Unlike many states that have been forced to cut billions in important programs, or raise taxes, Pennsylvania will continue to move forward without doing either,” Surra said.
All the lawmakers agreed that an increase in education funding was good for the local area.
The issue had been a bone of contention for local legislators, who felt an original proposal by the Rendell administration ” which called for investing $2.6 billion over the next six years ” did not do enough to help fund small, rural districts, some of which would have only received a 1.5 percent increase.
In the end, the funding plan was lowered from six years to one year and provides each district in the region with at least a 3 percent funding hike for basic education.
“I felt strongly that the governor’s plan failed to provide a fair level of support to many of our rural schools,” Causer said. “I believe we still need to do more to ensure our rural students continue to get the educational opportunities they need and deserve, but this year’s change was a step in the right direction.”
Surra said the budget also calls for increases in funding for State System of Higher Education universities and community colleges. The Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency will also receive a 5.5 percent increase to help more students pay for college.
“We continue to move in a direction that places more of the burden for funding education on the state and less on local property taxpayers,” Surra said. “We still have a way to go, but if we want to sustain and increase the property tax relief that will be delivered this summer to all Pennsylvania homeowners, we have to couple that effort with a significant and meaningful education funding commitment from the state.”
Rapp also voted in favor of the education funding, noting the idea of graduation competency testing was tabled and excluded from the budget.
Scarnati gave credit to the governor for starting the budget negotiations sooner.
“The tenor and rhetoric was good,” Scarnati said. “Of course, there was some partisan bickering with the budget.”
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