10/2/09

HB 1531

          The SPEAKER. The Chair recognizes the gentlelady from Luzerne County, Representative Mundy.

          Ms. MUNDY. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

          So many times this evening we have heard from the Republicans that the educational improvement tax credit is being cut at the same time that they decry all of the spending that we on this side of the aisle want to do. I think that redefines the word "hypocrisy". Let us spend more money for programs but let us not raise any taxes.

          I am tired of always being the party who is asked to put up the votes to pay the bills when this side has all the great ideas about how we can spend more. No one on our side of the aisle enjoys having to raise taxes. Taxes should always be a last resort.

          And I sincerely apologize to my constituents for the lateness of this budget, but what we have here is a clash of ideologies and quite a lot of partisan politics. If we as House Democrats had just caved in to the deep and painful cuts that House and Senate Republicans wanted to inflict on the citizens of Pennsylvania, we would have had a budget on July 1. But we Democrats see the people behind the line items in this budget. We see the frail elderly in nursing homes. We see the children in need of health care and in need of help in order to be ready to learn in school. We see the low-income working families who rely on subsidized child care in order to go to work. We see the mentally ill and the veterans and the volunteer firefighters in our communities. These are real people who rely on government services and funding.

          A previous speaker insisted that the people of Pennsylvania want us to just say no to new taxes, that if we are truly representing the interests of our constituents, we will vote "no" on any new taxes. But I can tell you, I can tell you that for every letter, e-mail, or phone call I received asking me to resist a tax increase, I received 200 requests to preserve funding for libraries, public television, education, child care, nursing homes, MH/MR, autism services. I could go on and on down every single line in this budget and tell you of the support that my constituents have for government services that they need. I guess many of the previous speakers' constituents have no need for any of these services.

          We have a structural deficit in Pennsylvania not of our making. It took us 73 days to convince the Senate Republicans that we needed new and recurring revenues in order to get us past this global financial crisis, to convince them that without this new revenue, we would be right back here next summer with an even more massive deficit and even fewer options.

          When we finally convinced them of the necessity for these new revenues, they insisted that we not tax cigars and smokeless tobacco, that we not tax natural gas extraction. Instead, they wanted to tax our arts and cultural institutions, our small nonprofits trying to raise money to support the services they provide. Well, I say that is not acceptable. We are only one of two States that does not tax cigars, and we are the only State in the nation that does not tax smokeless tobacco. It is inconceivable that we would not tax these tobacco products when we so desperately need the revenue.

          The large gas companies now working in Pennsylvania are here because that is where the gas is, not because of market advantages. Why should we allow these companies to take our natural resources, exploit them all over the East Coast, and receive nothing toward the environmental damage they cause? Did we learn nothing from the legacy of the coal barons?

          We as House Democrats stand with the most vulnerable citizens of Pennsylvania. We stand with college students, with those who use our libraries, who watch and listen to public television and radio. We stand with working families and the disabled. We need the revenue in this bill to prevent the draconian cuts that House and Senate Republicans would have us enact in these areas.

          This plan raises the sustainable revenue necessary to fund our priorities while still spending less than we spent last year. Please vote "yes" on HB 1531.