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State Rep. Chelsa Wagner D-Allegheny www.pahouse.com/Wagner

Wagner opposes budget that shifts burden to county, local governments

HARRISBURG, May 24 – State Rep. Chelsa Wagner, D-Allegheny, today voted against the House Republican-proposed budget bill (H.B. 1485), saying it unfairly shifts the burden to local and county governments, as well as middle-class families.

Wagner said the House Republican budget bill makes drastic cuts to vital health and human service programs, as well as basic and higher education, which will burden local governments that must now fund these critical programs and local taxpayers who will face rising property taxes.

"As Pennsylvania families and seniors work to dig out of the recession, the worst since the Great Depression, these irresponsible actions by the leadership in Harrisburg are going to knock taxpayers back down," Wagner said. "This budget could cause irreversible damage to local taxpayers and local governments for years to come."

Wagner has established herself through bipartisan budget votes during her three terms in office. Last year, she was one of only two out of 102 Democrats in the House who voted against the Democratic budget proposal because it made inequitable cuts to programs that were of great importance to residents in her district, including public libraries and social service programs.

"I cannot overstate the importance of the state budget debate," Wagner said. "The responsible analysis of state revenues and expenditures is perhaps one of the most important jobs of Pennsylvania legislators.

"I take that job very seriously, and that is why I could not vote for a budget that hurts working families, balancing the budget on their backs, while at the same time giving a free ride to natural gas drillers," she added.

The plan currently slashes funding for higher education by $300 million, including a $75.5 million cut to state-owned universities through the State System of Higher Education, and a $24 million cut to community colleges.

The budget bill also cuts funding for public education by nearly $1 billion, which has forced almost every school district in the state to cut critical programs and raise school property taxes.

In her district alone, Wagner said funding for the Pittsburgh City School District has been cut by $26.6 million, or 14.7 percent; the Baldwin-Whitehall School District has been cut by $1.2 million, or 12.4 percent, and the Keystone Oaks School District by $630,082, or 12 percent.

Wagner said it is irresponsible of both Gov. Tom Corbett and the House Republicans to ignore $1 billion in unexpected tax revenues, which should be providing relief to Pennsylvania families.

"We would be wise to use the surplus dollars to restore funding to our public schools, public universities, health care and human services programs so we can avoid local tax increases," Wagner said.

The Revenue Department reported recently that through 10 months of the current fiscal year, the state has collected $506 million more than the original estimate, compared to Corbett's estimated year-end figure of $78 million.

Wagner said not only is that $506 million available for use in the budget now being prepared, but the increase in revenue collection this year establishes a higher base to use in projecting state revenue for the next budget year. In effect, the "unexpected" revenue that comes in this year becomes "expected" revenue for next year.

She said she also opposed this budget because it did not establish a severance tax on gas drillers in Pennsylvania, an immense untapped source of revenue that could fully support many of the programs currently on the chopping block.

"I have strongly advocated for a responsible severance tax to be levied on the drilling industry," Wagner said. "We cannot continue to grant these drilling companies a free ride in Pennsylvania, when a severance tax would provide much-needed revenue for the Commonwealth – not only to support the communities where drilling is most prevalent, but to support programs for residents all across the state."

The budget bill passed the House today (109-92) and moves to the Senate for consideration.

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