Senate open to making changes.
By Eric Boehm | PA Independent
HARRISBURG — The state House voted mostly along party lines to approve a $27.3 billion general fund budget bill Tuesday evening.
The bill goes to the state Senate for consideration, but it is expected to return to the state House before the June 30 budget deadline after the Senate makes changes.
Republican leaders said they were following through on an Election Day mandate to reduce spending and pass an on-time budget without tax increases. The budget passed by the House represents a $700 million reduction from the current year’s $28 billion budget.
Democrats spent the day decrying the cuts contained in the budget, most notably the proposed cuts to education and human services. Democratic leaders said they expected the budget to come back from the state Senate with significant changes.
The final vote on the budget was 109-92, with Philadelphia Republicans Dennis O’Brien and John Taylor being the only members not to vote with their party.
The budget passed by the House maintains the $27.3 billion final spending figure proposed by Gov. Tom Corbett in March, though the House did make some changes to the spending items.
The House’s budget restored about $210 million of the governor’s proposed cuts to basic education, and House Republican leaders said every school district would receive at least the same amount of funding as it did in 2008-09, the last year before the federal stimulus boosted education spending.
State Rep. Mario Scavello, R-Monroe, said the $1.1 billion in federal stimulus funds, which the state put into basic education during the past two years, forced difficult decisions this spring.
“We made some big mistakes, but we need to live within our means this year,” Scavello said. “If we don’t, it’s going to be even worse next year.”
The House GOP budget actually spends about $600 million more than this past year’s budget in state dollars for education, but the loss of stimulus funds overwhelms that amount.
Democrats said only the funds spent on education mattered to school districts, not the breakdown between state and federal funding.
The House budget also restores about $380 million to the state's colleges and universities, though they still will see budget cuts relative to the current year.
“Yes, you’re supposed to have limited government, but you also have to have government recognize its obligations,” said state Rep. Bryan Barbin, D-Cambria, on the House floor.
State Rep. Joseph Markosek, D-Allegheny, said the education cuts would force higher property taxes at the local level as districts tried to make up the difference.
The House GOP proposal also restores about $650 million in the governor’s proposed 50-percent cut in state funding to higher education.
The funding restored to education was largely drawn from cuts to the state Department of Public Welfare, or DPW. Democrats said the cuts would fall hardest on the poor, the elderly and children in Pennsylvania.
Republicans said they are hoping to pull about $400 million in savings from the department by cutting down on waste in and abuse of the system. The estimated savings are based on reports from the federal government and Auditor General Jack Wager, a Democrat.
Even so, state Budget Secretary Charles Zogby and Secretary of DPW Gary Alexander have said they do not want to predicate a budget on assumed savings.
Democrats also wanted to use $500 million in tax revenue surplus, which accumulated during the first 10 months of this fiscal year.
“We have an opportunity. We can use that $1 billion surplus to fund education to keep property taxes lower and help our seniors,” said state Rep. Scott Conklin, D-Centre.
The $1 billion figure assumes the same revenue surplus in the next fiscal year, he said.
When the governor proposed the $27.3 billion budget in early March, the state had a tax revenue surplus of only $80 million, but it has grown considerably
Republicans responded that the presumed surplus was nothing compared to the state’s $4 billion deficit, $3 billion in unemployment debt to the federal government and mounting public pension costs in the coming decade.
“It is not a surplus; it is over-anticipated revenues,” said state Rep. Mike Vereb, R-Montgomery. “We’re in a massive deficit, and we need to control our spending for next year.”
Other Republicans said that assuming the higher-than-expected revenue will continue to roll into the state’s coffers is a mistake.
“There is no proof that the extra $500 million will be there next year for us to spend, so we have to move cautiously,” said state Rep. Stephen Barrar, R-Chester.
Barrar said he would be willing to put up a vote for more spending in certain areas, but not to use the whole $500 million amount.
Vereb said the House Republicans would be “solid” on the $27.3 billion spending figure, until the governor or the Senate indicated differently.
The state Senate may end up doing exactly that. Senate Republican leaders have said they remain open to some or all of the $500 million in excess revenue to restore budget cuts.
In a statement Tuesday evening, Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa, D-Allegheny, said he was looking forward to working with Senate Republicans to produce a state budget that includes “responsible spending without neglecting our responsibility to those Pennsylvanians who rely on us to be their voice in the legislature.”
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