"Today the Senate of
Pennsylvania did the job that the citizens of Pennsylvania
expected from us.
We passed a state budget that
contains significant increases in basic and special
education, higher education, services for mental health and
mental retardation, autism intervention, and Pre-K child
care.
We passed a budget that
addressed the core functions of state government and
provided a fiscally responsible 2.7% increase in state
spending. We did it without raising taxes and we did it
without budget shell game gimmicks.
The citizens of this
Commonwealth raised their voices over the past year and the
members of the Senate heard their priorities.
We limited the growth of
state government, we adequately funded our core
responsibilities and we recognized that taxpayers will not
support tax increases.
At a time when the Governor's
secretary of the budget tells us that we have over a $1
billion structural deficit to solve in this year's budget,
it is no time to raise taxes by over $2 billion and also
create millions of dollars in new spending.
This Pennsylvania State
Senate is under new leadership and I am proud to be a part
of it.
We heard the citizens'
outrage over last year's bloated budget and their opposition
to tax and spend policies. We listened and we reacted.
The Pennsylvania State Senate
today moved our Commonwealth in a new direction. The Senate
Republican Caucus is tired of out of control state spending
and double-digit budget spending plans that leave us in
structural deficits year after year and forces taxpayers to
pay more.
The Senate Republican Caucus
is committed to enacting a state budget that controls state
spending and does not raise taxes. We hope that the House
of Representatives will also take this pledge. I hope that
members of the House also listened to their constituents
demands for responsible government.
The Senate has passed a
budget well before the July 1 deadline. We have 10 more
days to enact a budget to meet our constitutional mandate –
plenty of time for the House to pass this plan and for the
Governor to sign it.
Thomas Paine said "lead,
follow, or get out of the way."
Today the Senate of
Pennsylvania acted, we led. Now it is time for others to
join us or take Thomas Paine's advice and get out of the
way.
Pennsylvania taxpayers, who
foot the bill for state services, deserve to have their
voices heard and heeded."
Senator Jake Corman, the
Senate Policy Chairman, represents the 34th Senatorial
District, which includes Centre, Mifflin, Juniata, Perry and
Union Counties.
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