GOP, Dems divided over state spending
With Pennsylvania’s budget deadline quickly closing in, many legislators stand divided on topics they deem important to state taxpayers.
Republican majorities in the General Assembly are pushing for a budget that closes deficits without new taxes and puts additional funding into public education. Their nearly $30.2 billion spending plan represents a year-over-year increase of about 4 percent, driven largely by higher pension obligations, the cost of health care for the poor and about $100 million in new funding for public schools.
Gov. Tom Wolf is warning he will veto the budget if gets to his desk in its current form. The Democrat has not said whether he will reject it completely or exercise the governor’s line-item veto authority. Wolf wants a tax on natural gas drilling to fund public education and shift away from property taxes that fund schools.
The state’s new budget year begins at midnight today.
But Sen. Camera Bartolotta, R-Carroll Township, said a severance tax will only “drive out” natural gas drilling from the state.
“If we follow his plan, everyone would pay an extra $1,000 over two years,” Bartolotta said Monday. “His tax plan would curse everyone. We’ve provided a very, very well thought-out budget.”
She said Republicans have presented a budget that is “balanced.”
“We’ve built a very solid budget that Pennsylvania can move forward on,” she said.
Rep. Jason Ortitay, R-South Fayette, said Republicans hope to get their budget on the governor’s desk by Wednesday.
“All of the Republicans are for it, and all of the Democrats are against it,” he said. “We are hearing we didn’t compromise.”
State Rep. Pam Snyder, D-Jefferson, said in a news release the budget proposal fails to make “education a priority while providing statewide property tax relief.”
“The proposal … repeats the last four years of failed strategies. It deserves an immediate veto,” she said.
Rep. Brandon Neuman, D-North Strabane, agreed.
“The spending plan was devised without adequate or fair input and falls woefully short of what is needed,” Neuman said in a news release. “The proposal fails to prepare students for the global job market, neglects to provide property tax relief, does nothing to improve economic opportunity and continues to rely on gimmicks to address the commonwealth’s budget shortfalls.”
Associated Press contributed to this report.