Area lawmakers give plan mixed reviews

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BILL O ’ BOYLE

Gov. ’s $27.3 billion budget slashes education funding and eliminates around 1,500 state jobs, but the plan got mixed reviews from area state legislators.

State Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski, D-Wilkes-Barre, said Corbett should keep his word on being “all embracing” and make sure everyone has “skin in the game.”
“This means everyone pays their fair share, including big corporations,” Pashinski said.
When it comes to Marcellus Shale natural gas, Pashinski said the governor wants Pennsylvania to be like Texas.
“Then so be it,” he said. “Texas has an extraction tax, and so should we.”
State Rep. Mike Carroll, D-Avoca, understands and embraces the need to align state spending with available revenue.
“I’m hopeful we can work cooperatively in the coming months to minimize some of the budget cuts to programs – including education and human services that serve both our children and our most vulnerable citizens – that likely will result in local tax increases,” he said.
State Rep. Phyllis Mundy, D-Kingston, said Corbett’s plan “simply shifts costs to local governments and schools, to college students and their families, to community health care facilities and to hardworking individuals.”
“He is asking Pennsylvanians to pay more while giving multinational, multistate corporations hundreds of millions in tax breaks,” Mundy said.
State Sen. Lisa Baker, R-Lehman Township, said Corbett’s proposed budget is consistent with the pledges he made to reject tax increases and pursue spending cuts.
“I am not surprised that he is committed to reversing the spending spiral of the past eight years,” Baker said. “The process continues with Appropriations Committee hearings throughout the month, where we will review the entire range of state responsibilities to see how best to fund our highest-priority programs and services within today’s existing revenue constraints.”
State Sen. John Yudichak, D-Plymouth Township, said the budget discussion should be guided by two simple principles: job creation and making government more cost-efficient and more accountable to taxpayers.
“I am prepared to make the tough cuts to reign in the cost of state government,” Yudichak said. “As long as those cuts do not inhibit job growth and as long as they do not sell short a generation of Pennsylvanians who want good jobs, good schools for the children and safe communities for their families.”
State Rep. Karen Boback, R-Harveys Lake, said the state is facing some very tough economic questions.
“We have no reserve funds or federal stimulus dollars on which to rely, and raising taxes is not an option,” she said. “Pennsylvania’s families are already feeling the squeeze on their personal finances.”
State Rep. Gerald Mullery, D-Newport Township, said the Commonwealth must balance state spending with available revenue.
“However, I am troubled by the administration’s proposal to reduce the state’s basic education subsidy by $820 million and to cut higher education funding by nearly 50 percent,” Mullery said. “These cuts will most certainly lead to higher property taxes and increased tuition costs, and will hurt hardworking families in Luzerne County and the rest of Pennsylvania.”
State Sen. John P. Blake, D-Archbald, expressed “deep concern about the massive and crippling budget cuts proposed to proven, successful state programs and services.”
“In a recession, job creation and targeted investments are essential to our economy rebounding, and this proposal jeopardizes any and all progress we have made in recent years,” Blake said.
A member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Blake said jobs are scarce in all corners of the state, while the cost of living continues to skyrocket. He said the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program projects are not part of General Fund spending.
“They are funded by debt authorized by statute,” he said. “The budget as presented does not jeopardize the (Lackawanna County) stadium funding.”