Saying the newly minted state budget contains too much new
spending, the region’s three Republican lawmakers voted against the
spending plan over the weekend. Meanwhile, the lone area Democrat
voted in favor of the measure.
On Sunday, Sen. Joe Scarnati, R-Brockway, and Rep. Martin
Causer, R-Turtlepoint, said they voted down the budget, in part,
because too much additional funding was spent on welfare and it
doesn’t do enough to help alleviate the property tax situation.
Rep. Kathy Rapp, R-Warren, also voted against the budget, while
Rep. Dan Surra, D-Kersey, approved of it.
“Almost a billion and a half dollars in new spending is
unacceptable,” Scarnati said. “The governor could have taken that
money and given it back to help with property tax reform. I don’t
know anybody getting a 7 to 8 percent increase in their paychecks,
and the state shouldn’t as well.”
The new $26.1 billion budget calls for a 5.8 percent increase
over the fiscal year ended Friday – or a $1.4 billion hike – to be
financed by growth in tax collections; there is no tax increase.
The budget was crafted at the height of an election year for Gov.
Ed Rendell.
“This is absolutely an election year budget,” Scarnati said.
The budget does, however, set aside additional funding for
public schools, retains the Science in Motion program and brings
funding for public libraries back in line. The Senate also passed a
tripling in the payment in lieu of taxes (PILT) on state-owned land
from $1.20 to $3.60 an acre.
“Spending is increased a great deal in this budget,” Causer
said, noting this is the first time he’s voted no to a budget since
being in office. “There are some really good things in this budget,
but when you look at it as a whole, there are some areas where the
spending shouldn’t have been increased. Businesses have had to cut
back, and so should state government.”
According to Causer, the first line items he looks over in a
proposed budget is for school funding. While that has increased
across the board this year, the lawmaker said the Rendell
administration has focused too much on welfare spending.
“It’s really sad when welfare spending increases over education
spending,” Causer said. “We are adding more people to the (welfare)
rolls every day. The budget as far as welfare goes is completely
bloated and needs to be trimmed back.”
Causer said he believes if the state properly funds education,
it will ultimately help ease the burden on property owners, who
suffer the brunt of large tax increases by school districts.
“There has to be a commitment to properly fund our schools,”
Causer said.
According to Causer, the Bradford Area School District will see
a hike of $508,693 in basic education subsidy, up 4.7 percent.
Meanwhile, special education funding rose by $44,305. The district
also stands to gain an additional $107,919 in accountability block
grants, which allow districts to target specific needs.
Other good news for local education includes funding for the
Science in Motion program – which is through the University of
Pittsburgh at Bradford. That program will receive $2 million as
part of the allotment for the Department of Education.
Local libraries will also see their share of funding, according
to Causer, who said previous levels have been restored; there has
been $75.7 million set aside statewide – a $14.1 million
increase.
“That is a big boost to our libraries,” Causer said. “It needed
to happen.”
Surra said school districts in St. Marys, Ridgway, Johnsonburg
and DuBois will receive more than $1.6 million in additional
funding.
“The budget includes money for critical new technology in our
classroom,” Surra said.
The lawmaker also said one of the most significant parts of the
budget package integrates the state’s PACE and PACENET prescription
drug plans for seniors with the Medicare Part D program in a way
that ensures seniors will continue to enjoy the best prescription
benefits in the nation.
“Because of the savings we can realize through Medicare Part D,
we will be able to offer prescription coverage to 120,000 more
seniors while protecting our PACE and PACENET beneficiaries from
some of the costs that seniors in other states will have to bear
under Medicare Part D,” Surra said.
According to Surra, the budget also makes a major investment in
health care for children, with a new program called “Cover all
Kids” that will allow about 300,000 more uninsured children to
qualify for the state’s Children’s Health Insurance Program
(CHIP).
Both Causer and Surra also said the spending plan calls for cuts
in business taxes.
“Finally, we are helping our economy by cutting business taxes
…,” Surra said. “Coupled with the property tax relief we recently
passed and the minimum wage increase we delivered for hundreds of
thousands of Pennsylvania workers earlier this week, I believe we
have Pennsylvania pointed in the right direction for the
future.”
However, Scarnati believes more could have been done.
“The state continues to spend too much money,” Scarnati said.
“In fiscal year 2007-08, it will be a huge difficulty for the
Legislature and governor in creating a budget. There is no free
lunch and we’ll probably eventually be forced to have a tax
increase. Then, the state taxpayers will have even more money taken
out of their pockets.”
Rapp was not immediately available for comment on Sunday.
