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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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State Rep. Matt Smith www.pahouse.com/msmith State Rep. Randy Vulakovich www.repvulakovich.com
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Smith and Vulakovich call for reduction in funding for General Assembly
HARRISBURG, Nov. 26 – State Reps. Matt Smith and Randy Vulakovich, both freshmen lawmakers from Allegheny County, are calling for a 20 percent reduction in the funding allocation for the General Assembly in the 2008-09 state budget.
In a letter they sent last week to House Appropriations Chairman Dwight Evans, the lawmakers said such a funding cut would help to restore the public’s trust, and would demonstrate that members of the legislature can be good stewards of public dollars.
“In my first term as a representative, I am looking for ways to reduce government spending in a responsible way that still allows the legislature to effectively serve the general public,” Smith said. “I believe that we can absorb a 20 percent reduction in funding and still meet the needs of the people we represent.
"I commend the Speaker's Commission on Legislative Reform for bringing this issue to the forefront and I am happy to assist in building bipartisan support among my freshmen colleagues for this important action," Smith said. "This will be a very important issue to me at budget time and I want to make it clear that I will aggressively push for this cost reduction during budget negotiations. I believe this will place the General Assembly on a path to operate in a more efficient and cost-effective manner.”
“Pennsylvania taxpayers are currently footing the bill for the second-largest and second-most-expensive legislature in the nation, behind only California,” said Vulakovich. "As one of 50 freshmen state lawmakers, I gave my word to the people who elected me that I would do everything within my power to work to reduce the overall size of the state legislature. I firmly believe that an overall 20 percent reduction in the total legislative branch operating budget is without question a giant reform leap we must voluntarily pursue to bring the cost of our General Assembly in line with other states.
“I fully realize that in the end I have but one vote to cast. Ultimately, my floor vote on this and every other reform issue reflects back on my original voter commitments, and as a result are solemn pledges I intend to keep,” added Vulakovich.
According to the Speaker's Commission, the cost to operate the General Assembly is $23.01 per Pennsylvania taxpayer. A 20 percent reduction in the General Assembly budget will result in a savings of approximately $62 million based on the 2007-08 appropriation.
EDITORS: The letter sent to Evans follows.
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CONTACT: Ruth A. Myers |
November 20, 2007
VIA HAND DELIVERY
The Honorable Dwight Evans
Appropriations Chairman
Room 512 Main Capitol Building
P.O. Box 202203
Harrisburg, PA 17120-2203
Dear Chairman Evans:
Thank you for your bipartisan work as Majority Chair of the Appropriations Committee. It is in this spirit that we jointly and respectfully submit this letter to you for your consideration.
As freshmen members of the Legislature, we believe that it is incumbent on all of us to aggressively push for greater efficiency and effectiveness. One of the areas that we believe this can be accomplished is in reducing the cost of our Legislature to Pennsylvania taxpayers. As you know, according to the Speaker’s Commission on Legislative Reform, Pennsylvania spends $23.01 per person on our Legislature – ranking the Commonwealth third in the Country. The Speaker’s Commission recommended a 10% reduction in the Legislature’s budget. We firmly believe that the cost to operate the General Assembly must be reduced in order to save money and demonstrate that we can be good stewards of public dollars.
To that end, we write to respectfully urge you to make reducing the line item for the operations of the Legislature a priority in the negotiations for the 2008-09 budget. Specifically, we respectfully request that the Speaker’s Commission recommendation of a 10% reduction in the Legislature’s budget appropriation be met and exceeded to a total of a 20% reduction. Based on the 07-08 budget, this would result in savings of approximately $62 million. It is essential that we address this vital issue in next year’s budget so that we continue to move in the direction of operating in a cost-effective manner.
We recognize that the 2008-09 budget negotiations will not begin in earnest for several months. Over the next few months, however, we intend to work in a bipartisan manner among our Freshmen colleagues to build support for this key initiative. This letter is the first step in that initiative.
It is our firm belief that this step is necessary to restore the public’s trust that we will act as responsible stewards of their tax dollars. Reducing the cost of the legislature is a common sense step toward cost effective good government.
We look forward to working with you on this important issue.
Sincerely, Sincerely,
[signature] [signature]
Matt Smith Randy Vulakovich
State Representative State Representative
42nd Legislative District 30th Legislative District