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| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
| State Rep. Frank Dermody |
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Governor Corbett signs budget he hasn’t read and can’t explain
HARRISBURG, July 1 –Minutes before midnight, June 30, Governor Tom Corbett signed the 2012-13 state budget and several related bills that his staff hurriedly placed in front of him. Shortly after midnight when answering reporters’ questions about the new laws, the Governor responded to a question about the new Bucks County gas drilling moratorium (contained in the Fiscal Code) by admitting that he had not watched the legislative debate and was unprepared to discuss the issue. Keep in mind he had just signed the moratorium into law. He asked the gathered reporters to check back with him in two or three days and then amended that. “Actually, you wanna give me a week?” he asked.
If that’s how much time the Governor needs, then shouldn’t Pennsylvania’s elected legislators have had more than a couple of hours to consider this moratorium and many other major changes to state law contained within the Tax Code, Fiscal Code, Education Code and Welfare Code?
House Democratic Leader Frank Dermody, D-Allegheny, made the following remarks after the budget and related legislation was signed into law at midnight Saturday:
“In view of the devastation this budget causes, getting it done on time is a trivial footnote. The real story of this budget is a tragedy for Pennsylvania taxpayers and middle-class families. Because of the governor’s failure of leadership, the new budget imposes massive, unnecessary pain on Pennsylvania’s elderly, the state’s schoolchildren, our neighbors and family members struggling with chronic illness or disabilities, and people who simply want clean air and drinking water.
“And don’t be fooled,” Dermody said. “This is not a no-tax-increase budget. Because of this governor’s failure to properly fund public schools and county human services, homeowners all across the state will see their property taxes go up this year, just as they did last year as a result of Corbett’s cuts. It didn’t have to be this way. Governor Corbett and his allies chose to inflict this pain on the people of Pennsylvania by leaving hundreds of millions of dollars on the table – reliable, sustainable revenue. This budget shortchanges Pennsylvanians in a multitude of ways. We should demand more from our governor than just the bare minimum of passing a budget on time – especially when the end product is nothing to be proud of.
“Perhaps once the governor has a chance to read the budget, he will understand that. Let’s check with him next week,” Dermody said.
| CONTACT: Bill Patton |