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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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State
Rep. Kathy Manderino |
  
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Manderino: no on state budget
Lack of funding for health and human services programs spurs decision
HARRISBURG, July 9 – State Rep. Kathy Manderino, D-Phila./Montgomery, issued the following statement on the 2008-09 enacted state budget:
"I wanted to explain to constituents why I made the tough and potentially unpopular decision to vote 'no' on some of the bills that were part of the budget package. While I applaud and support the historic investment in education and child care in the 2008-09 budget, I am extremely distressed by the state’s chronic lack of investment in human services for the most vulnerable. As the chairperson of the House Appropriations Committee's Subcommittee on Health and Human Services, I feel a special obligation for fighting for these line items, which is why I was so disappointed in how they fared in the budget process.
"This year, the state government made significant investments in capital construction needs throughout the Commonwealth by raising the debt limit of both the capital budget and the redevelopment assistance budget to allow for more spending on construction projects. These investments in the physical infrastructure of our state are no more important than the investment in the human infrastructure of our state -- the community providers who provide state services to vulnerable populations.
"We keep starving the community provider organizations that serve abused children, the mentally retarded and the frail elderly. As a result, we are at risk of these organizations going out of business. If we do not view human capital as equally important as bricks and mortar, the human services system in Pennsylvania is going to collapse. Investment in a soccer stadium or a bio-diesel fuel plant hopefully will bring good jobs to the state, but those jobs will not make the needs of the mentally retarded or the frail elderly person who needs home care go away.
"In order to make this point, I made the decision to vote against both the borrowing bills and the budget as I think the priorities regarding investment in infrastructure in these budget-related bills should have been reversed. In a tough budget year, I would have voted for less money dedicated to economic development projects and more money to serve the vulnerable citizens of our Commonwealth."
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