Corbett’s first major budget move under way
By Eric Boehm PA Independent
One day before Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett gives his first budget address, the state House is already moving on one of his proposals.
The state House Appropriations Committee on Monday approved a bill to cut $337 million from the state’s basic education subsidy for school districts, replacing it with $387 million in federal stimulus funds.
The plan was outlined by Corbett in mid-January. Two weeks after taking office as governor, he sent a letter to legislative leaders outlining his plan to cut funding from the state’s education subsidy.
On Feb. 3, Corbett froze $337 million in state education spending. The bill approved Monday by the Appropriations Committee would make that freeze permanent by cutting the funds from the state budget and placing it in a reserve fund.
The move will not impact school district funding levels for this year since it will be replaced by $387 million in stimulus funds, said state Rep. Bill Adolph, R-Delaware, the committee chair.
“It’s actually an increase of $50 million in this year’s budget,” said Adolph. “We’re moving the $337 million into the next year.”
Democrat lawmakers decried the fiscal maneuver as a $1 billion cut in funding for the state’s 501 school districts, equal to 18 percent of the current fiscal year’s total school district subsidy.
The current state subsidy to school districts is $5.7 billion – consisting of $5.1 billion in state funds supplemented with $654 million in federal stimulus funds, which expire at the end of this fiscal year in June.
Adding another $387 million in stimulus funds in place of state funds will create a budget “cliff” of $1 billion for next year, said state Rep. Samuelson, D-Northampton.
Samuelson said the additional $387 million in available stimulus funds was supposed to be on top of the state’s appropriation, not in place of it.
“My concern is that this is a double whammy for the students of Pennsylvania,” said Samuelson. “The school districts are losing what they are counting on, but they are also going into tomorrow with less than they expected.”
The funds being pulled out of the education budget this year will be placed in a reserve fund, said Adolph. Next year, those funds will be available for the General Fund budget, helping to cushion an expected $5 billion deficit.
Though there is no guarantee the funds would be used for education next year, but Corbett’s budget address on Tuesday will make the picture clearer, said Republican Whip Stan Saylor, R-York.
Saylor said he believe the administration will “try to keep those funds in education.”
Ronald Tomalis, Corbett’s nominee for Secretary of Education, offered no comment when asked about the administration’s plans for the reserve funds. Tomalis was unanimously recommended for confirmation by the Senate Education Committee on Monday.
In a letter to Corbett sent Monday afternoon, Democrat leaders in the state House and state Senate said they agreed with part of Corbett's thinking but had concerns.
“We are concerned about the placement of the remaining $337 million in state education funding into a reserve fund with no commitment to using it for education in the coming fiscal year," reads a portion of the letter.
The state’s basic education subsidy increased dramatically under former Gov. Ed Rendell. When Rendell took office in fiscal year 2003-2004, the state spent $4.08 billion on the basic education subsidy, which climbed to this fiscal year’s total of $5.7 billion.
