Politics & Government
State Budget Goes to Corbett, Other Bills Coming
Democrats continue calling for use of unanticipated revenue.
By Caleb Taylor | PA Independent
The state budget passed the House of Representatives on Wednesday evening, and it’s on its way to Gov. Tom Corbett for his consideration--giving Pennsylvania an on-time budget for the first time in eight years.
“After eight years of late budgets, things are back on track,” said state Sen. Pat Browne, R-Lehigh.
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The budget cleared the state Senate on Tuesday and the state House voted 109-92 to approve the changes made by the upper chamber. Since the budget does not contain an impact fee on natural gas drilling and does not exceed the spending figure agreed upon by the governor and Republican legislative leaders, Corbett is expected to sign the package. There are also no broad-based tax increases contained in the budget.
The final vote was nearly down party lines, with two Philadelphia Republicans--state Reps. Dennis O'Brien and John Taylor--voting with Democrats in opposition to the budget.
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The other bills that are part of the budget package need to be passed Thursday, but all are in position to be completed on time.
The general fund budget will spend $27.15 billion, but not without a few creative maneuvers that Democrats called “gimmicks” during budget debates on Wednesday. The general fund represents the primary discretionary spending by the state.
But the main disagreement between Republicans and Democrats during budget talks Wednesday was whether the Legislature should spend the greater-than-expected $650 million in tax revenue the state government received this fiscal year. Republicans say that money should help pay off the state’s $50 billion debt.
“We have $50.2 billion in liabilities, and we are here talking about anywhere between $2 (million and) $4 million in unanticipated revenues. You can’t compare millions of dollars in cash with billions of dollars in liabilities,” said state Rep. Bill Adolph, R-Delaware.
Democrats offered 11 amendments to the budget bill that used some money from the revenue in areas that saw funding cut. Specifically, they proposed adding $100 million to a low-income, health-care program for 44,000 Pennsylvanians; $147 million for higher education; more than $15 million for the state Department of Environmental Protection and other environmental programs; and $5.9 million on job training.
None of the amendments passed, as Republicans ruled them out of order over Democrats' protests.
State Rep. Phyliss Mundy, D-Luzerne, said the new Republican majority in the state House and Republican Corbett were more focused on having the budget done on time than doing it right.
Former “Gov. (Ed) Rendell believed in investing in our people by funding education. Getting that done was more important to him than getting a budget done on time,” Mundy said.
Democrats said Republicans were using budget gimmicks. In particular, they pointed to $100 million in additional spending on education that is included in the current fiscal year’s budget even though the funds will not be spent until next year.
If the added education funds were in the full budget, the total spending figure would climb to $27.25 billion.
“This is a magician’s budget where they show you your hands and they're empty, but they pull a budget egg out of your ear. The people of Pennsylvania are being fooled into thinking this is a no-tax, low-spend budget,” said state Rep. Markosek, D-Allegheny, minority chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.
Markosek claimed the final spending figure was closer to $27.7 billion.
Even so, the budget represents the first time in more than 40 years that overall state spending has decreased from one year to the next, Adolph said. The overall budget represents a four percent decrease in state spending over the current fiscal year.
The fiscal code, which is the revenue side of the budget, is expected to pass Thursday as well. Other bills that are part of the budget process are also expected to be passed on time.
The budget contains a $129 million funding cut to higher education and an $800 million cut to public schools, but both cuts are significantly less than originally proposed by the governor. Democrats said those reductions would lead to higher property taxes and tuition increases in coming months.
There is a new $300 million assessment on the state's hospitals which will fund a program for the uninsured.
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