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Senator Alloway's Letter-to-Editor Regarding Senate Bill 850Many district residents have written, e-mailed, called and met with me to voice concerns about SB 850, mostly about line item cuts in programs in which they have a vested and legitimate interest. However, the state is facing a budget deficit of more than $3 billion, meaning the state cannot fully fund all of its good programs. Unlike the federal government, which prints money when it runs out, Pennsylvania is constitutionally required to balance its budget. There are two ways to accomplish that -- cut spending or raise taxes. Senate Republicans have strongly voiced our position that spending must be controlled to avoid a tax increase. SB 850 funds Pennsylvania's most important programs at the same or higher levels than in the current 2008-09 budget. For example, the bill uses $720 million federal stimulus funds to increase overall spending on public education. For school districts in our 33rd Senatorial District, SB 850 would increase funding by nearly $12 million in 2009-10. The governor's proposal would provide a larger increase in education spending, but the taxpayers would be forced to maintain these higher levels of funding when the stimulus money runs out in two years. I am hopeful that the economy will have recovered enough for state government to afford these increases without a deficit. However, if the economy does not improve to that level, then working Pennsylvanians could be facing even wider deficits, more painful spending cuts and higher taxes when the federal money runs out. That is not a risk my GOP colleagues and I are willing to take. The Democrat-controlled House Appropriations Committee recently voted down Senate Bill 850 along party lines. However, House Democrats have offered no alternative to close the estimate $3 billion gap between revenues and expenditures in the state budget. Democracy is not one side capitulating to come to an agreement with the other. We need to reach a consensus through compromise, and SB 850 is the Republican starting point in that process. Governor Rendell has submitted his proposed budget – and revised it several times as the deficit has grown - but we have yet to see a detailed plan emerge from Democrats in the House or Senate. I am hopeful that they will present an alternative plan quickly that does not balance the budget through burdensome tax increases on working families in Pennsylvania. Ask yourself this: What has the government done to earn your money? And what would justify government taking more of your money in the form of higher taxes? You work to support yourself and your family, not to serve government. That will be foremost in my mind as the budget negotiations move forward.
Senator Richard Alloway II | |
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