Category: Pennsylvania Budget

Family Services Group Sues Wolf

Family Services Group Sues Wolf Think of the children, Governor, and stop playing politics.
Think of the children, Governor, and stop playing politics.

The Pennsylvania Council of Children, Youth and Family Services has filed a lawsuit against Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf and the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services seeking to compel them to perform their duty to continue to fund the critical and essential services necessary to care for and protect the most vulnerable populations of this Commonwealth – abused, neglected and dependent children, their at-risk families and juvenile offenders.

The legal action, filed today, Sept. 15, with Commonwealth Court by Lamb McErlane, PC, seeks to ensure that child safety and community protection services are designated as being essential even during budget disputes. PCCYFS, which represents more than 100 private providers of child welfare and juvenile justice services in Pennsylvania, believes that children, youth and their families must be able to access needed and defined services without fear of delay or disruption, even in the absence of state budget decisions.

“Since July 1, PCCYFS has tried to work in a proactive and positive manner with the Wolf Administration to have the state’s child welfare and juvenile justice services designated as essential services to ensure that public dollars flow despite the current budget impasse,” said Bernadette Bianchi, Executive Director of PCCYFS. “Unfortunately the Governor’s Office has failed to acknowledge the Commonwealth’s responsibility to financially support funding for these mandated services. We wish we did not have to take this legal action, but it is necessary to ensure that children, who are entitled to these services, continue to have uninterrupted access to these crucial services.”

“In the vast majority of cases, these child welfare services – which include in-home supports, foster care, and residential placements – are court-ordered. Children requiring placement out-of-their own homes due to abuse or neglect need protection, but the Administration has nonetheless refused to classify these interventions as ‘essential’,” said attorney Joel L. Frank, legal counsel for PCCYFS.

“Juvenile offenders requiring rehabilitation to keep communities safe are also not included on this essential services list,” Frank said. “That the state receives federal money for many of these programs, but the Administration is refusing to make those existing federal funds, or the necessary state funds, available to counties to pay counties and service providers is frustrating, improper and violates a comprehensive federal and state statutory scheme enacted to protect and serve this specific population”.

“The state has a responsibility and a duty to fund these critical, essential programs,” said Alex Rahn, Wanner Associates and Government Affairs Consultant for PCCYFS. “The Administration’s failure to fund these programs – while at the same time claiming that child daycare subsidies are “essential” — is unacceptable and irresponsible public policy. This court action is designed to protect these vulnerable and at-risk populations. We will not stand by and allow the safety of children or our communities to be held hostage in this budget debate.”

Federal and state laws define the entitlements of children who have been abused or neglected. Services to ensure their ongoing safety, as well as the supports to be available to their families, are often also put into court orders. Many of these supports, including programs offered in the child’s home, foster family care and residential placement, are delivered through contracts between counties and private provider agencies. These services are clearly intended to be funded with designated public tax dollars.

Juvenile offenders who have been declared by the court to be in need of rehabilitation are another population of youth with entitlements to interventions. Those youth who present a threat to the safety of their community require placement interventions and are again primarily served through the private provider network. Although funding continues for some youth served in the State Youth Development Centers, services for youth presenting the same behaviors placed in private facilities are not.

Private agency staff are working every day to meet these legal and ethical expectations – many programs are staffed round the clock, seven days a week. The additional pressures of worrying about how to pay for the care, supervision, food and transportation for these children and youth by exhausting agency resources, taking out loans and staff layoffs are an unfair consequence to the agencies committed to this work. These services are absolutely essential to the health, safety, and protection of Pennsylvania’s children, are certainly required by federal and state laws and must be funded. PCCYFS is confident the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania will agree.

Hat tip Pete Peterson

Family Services Group Sues Wolf

Legislature Passed Budget, Blame Wolf

By Sen. Scott Wagner Legislature Passed Budget, Blame Wolf

It appears that newspaper editorial departments across the state are offering their opinion on the state budget.  Let me set the record straight — the legislature met its obligation to pass a balanced budget by the constitutionally required deadline.

The budget sent to Gov. Wolf on June 3 included $1 billion more for spending than the previous budget.  Gov. Wolf chose to veto a budget that was balanced, did not raise taxes, and provided increased education funding. Notably, two-thirds of the line items were funded at or above the amount that the governor requested.

Gov. Wolf had the power to use what is called a line-item veto — he could have approved approximately 270 items, and he could have vetoed the rest. Instead he has left organizations in our communities scrambling to stay afloat because he insists on a tax-and-spend budget that exacerbates the problem that I continue to call attention to — Harrisburg does not have a revenue problem, it has a spending problem.

Gov. Wolf claimed during his political campaign that he turned around his family business, which meant reining in costs and reducing waste. Unfortunately, we haven’t seen him show a willingness to perform his private sector business magic on Pennsylvania.

Our state is financially distressed and needs a turnaround governor, not a tax-and-spend governor.

I take my role as a state senator seriously. I serve on the Senate Appropriations Committee. I sat through 33 hearings on the budget covering 80 hours.

I have considerable private-sector business experience. The various companies that I own, along with thousands of other businesses in Pennsylvania, continue to withhold weekly payroll taxes from employee paychecks and send those taxes to Harrisburg weekly along with other taxes the companies pay, so the cash flow to Harrisburg continues.

Let me be crystal clear: I will not be voting for any additional tax increases. I will continue to beat on the table demanding accountability for the taxes everyone already pays.

I would ask editorial writers to do everyone a favor and stop blaming the legislature and point the blame to Gov. Wolf.

Sen. Wagner represents the 28th District in the Pennsylvania Senate.

Legislature Passed Budget, Blame Wolf

Pennsylvania Won’t Run Out Of Money

Pennsylvania Won't Run Out Of MoneyBy Sen. Scott Wagner

Over the last few weeks I have repeatedly read articles in various newspapers saying government-funded non-profit organizations and social programs are running out of money because the PA State budget did not pass on June 30.

These articles are misleading and deceptive.

As a small business owner, I know for a fact that cash continues to flow into Harrisburg.

How do I know this?

Since June 30, PA state taxes have continued to be deducted weekly from employee paychecks at my various companies.

In addition, these companies also continue to pay corporate and federal taxes.

I know for a fact that the cash flow into Harrisburg continues to be very strong and has not stopped because we are REQUIRED by the state to wire transfer Pennsylvania state taxes withheld weekly from our employees’ paychecks to Harrisburg.

Last Friday, August 14, one of the businesses I own issued 345 payroll checks and deducted $8,170  in employee withholding taxes.

Those withholding taxes will be wire transferred to the State of Pennsylvania today.

So far for 2015, we have sent $266,177 in employee deducted state taxes to Harrisburg.

In July, we purchased four waste collection trucks for a total of $918,477.

We paid Pennsylvania sales tax in the amount of $53,718  for the trucks which went to Harrisburg immediately.

We also paid $104,540  in federal excise taxes on those trucks.

The misleading information that is being fed to Pennsylvanians by the Wolf Administration makes me extremely angry and is an insult to Pennsylvanians that have payroll taxes deducted from their paychecks and it is also insulting to business owners all across Pennsylvania who continue to generate tax revenue each and every day.

It is a poor attempt to get the general public to think Governor Wolf’s budget proposal is the only option we have.

Guess what – there was another option.

Governor Wolf could have chosen to approve 270 line items for passage so cash flow would have continued to these agencies and organizations – he made the decision to veto the entire budget despite that option.

Governor Wolf made a huge mistake.

It is time Governor Wolf takes responsibility for his poor decision and put an end to the political games.

I’m curious – did you stop paying taxes on June 30?

Sen. Wagner represents the 28th District in the Pennsylvania Senate.

Pennsylvania Won’t Run Out Of Money

Governor Refuses Compromise And Common Sense

Governor Refuses Compromise And Common Sense
Duane Milne

By State Rep. Duane D. Milne

Do you and your neighbor agree on everything?

For even good neighbors, the answer of course is “no,” and that’s OK, because compromising over differences of opinion is the essence not only of civility in general but also the public policy process in particular.

In that spirit, I am calling on Gov. Wolf to live as a better neighbor with the state legislature and sign the approved state budget into law. The legislature-approved budget matches the governor’s original proposal with equal or better funding for 270 of the 401 (67%) line items that make up the budget. This legislature-approved budget is fair, reasonable and responsible on behalf of the 12.7 million citizens of our great Commonwealth.

Instead, Gov. Wolf opted to veto the major and historic pieces of legislation passed by the legislature in June. Worse, since then, this governor has refused compromise with the legislature, thereby rendering state government reeling on the verge of shutdown as we slide through August.

In this case, the governor is in the wrong simply to veto all this legislation across-the-board, because it all is not exactly as he, but one person, wants. No bill is the proverbial “perfect,” and all of you as one individual citizen probably would make a change in some respect if given the option. Nonetheless, at some point decisions must be made, and the policy and political reality is one of legislation that has been crafted deliberatively after much consideration and debate in Harrisburg.

The legislature-approved budget:

•    Caps at $30.18 billion, and checks the growth rate (from last year’s budget) below that of inflation based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
•    Remains balanced and rejects reckless borrowing and government debt.
•    Turns down Tom Wolf’s proposed tax increase, the largest ever for Pennsylvania, including an unprecedented expansion of the sales tax as well as pushing up the personal income tax; voted down unanimously, Democrats and Republicans alike, by the House.
•    Unmasks the governor’s property tax reduction claim as a phantom.

It also invests in education as it:
•    Allocates $11 billion to education, the highest amount ever in Pennsylvania state education dollars.
•    Equates to nearly 45% of spending being devoted to education (to include primary, secondary and higher education, as well as number of “small” slices not separately broken out on budget pie graph.
•    Positions Pennsylvania’s per student spending at $15,535, considered well above the national average of $11,764, according even to the union: the National Education Association.

This ;budget was assed by the legislature on June 30 and vetoed by Gov. Wolf July 1

The status of Pennsylvania’s state owned liquor stores was addressed with  House Bill 466 which

•    Approves reform by both House and Senate for first time since end of Prohibition.
•    Recognizes that running adult beverage sector fails definition of limited government.
•    Allows ample opportunity for private sector markets to offer these products.
•    Permits as well the direct shipment of wine, something long wanted by citizens.
•    Creates better convenience, choice and cost for consumers.

This bill was passed by the legislature June 29 and vetoed by Gov. Wolf July 2

The necessary pension reform was addressed with Senate Bill 1 which

•    Leverages $10 billion in savings for the taxpayers, and leads to new fiscal paths to prevent future pension crises.
•    Acknowledges that current employees and retirees have paid their pension contributions.
•    Applies bill provisions to new employees: enrolled into defined contribution/401-style plans rather than defined benefit plans.
•    Legislators, including even current ones if re-elected (thereby becoming “new” state employees), and their staffs also no longer would be entitled to defined benefit plans.
•    Plan demonstrates determination to demand fiscal prudence in fairness to the future of our kids and grandkids.

This was passed by the legislature June 30 and vetoed by Gov.  Wolf July 9.

While all of us strongly hold our points of view, no one can reasonably expect to get one’s own way completely in life, let alone politics. Policy outcomes on behalf of the citizens must somehow balance the extraordinary array of interests and opinions in our large and politically diverse state. In the final analysis, what is called for is agreement on one budget, one set of laws, and one path forward that permits our one state government to serve the millions of citizens whom comprise Pennsylvania.

Tell Governor Wolf it’s time to reach across the backyard fence and compromise: Call him at 717-787-2500 or email him here.

Rep. Milne represents the 167th Legislative District in the Pennsylvania House. He is a professor of Political Science at West Chester University and has written academic papers on federalism and public sector management.[5] He also has worked as an organizational consultant and has gained international experience through business projects in countries throughout Asia, including China, Japan, South Korea and the Philippines.

Governor Refuses Compromise And Common Sense

Hat tip Tom C.

Wolf Plan Unpopular With Public

By Chris Freind Wolf Plan Unpopular With Public Wolf Plan Unpopular With Public Wolf Plan Unpopular With Public

Who’s afraid of the big, bad (Tom) Wolf?

Not the Republican Legislature.

Pennsylvania’s new governor submitted a budget proposal that would raise taxes by a whopping $4.5 billion. That plan was promptly bitten in half by the GOP, with both sides now light years apart. And since the June 30 deadline has passed with no resolution, the Keystone State finds itself in a drawn-out budget stalemate.

Good.

What the governor does not yet understand is that he has little public support for his plans, making him a lone Wolf on the impasse. And so long as the Republicans don’t cave, they will win the day, and by extension, so will the people.

Let’s review the major sticking points:

1. Taxes: Raising taxes is never the answer. Doing so takes money from productive citizens and businesses — who would spend it as they saw fit in the economy, generating more jobs and, ultimately, more tax revenue — and throws it into the never-ending black hole of government spending. It’s bad enough that our taxes are so high — Pennsylvania already has the nation’s 10th-biggest tax burden and will soon have America’s highest fuel taxes — but to make the sin mortal, whatever money raised would be completely squandered, especially on education. High taxes can never be justified, but the pill might not be so bitter if at least the money was wisely spent. But we all know otherwise.

Wolf wants to raise the income tax, sales tax (and greatly expand the list of items covered by the that tax), and tobacco tax, and single out the natural gas companies for its own tax.

America’s 35 percent corporate tax rate is the highest in the world. Add in state and local taxes, and the burden becomes onerous. So in Pennsylvania, a company pays the highest federal corporate tax on the planet, on top of the nation’s second-highest state corporate net income tax (9.9 percent), on top of local taxes. (Philadelphia, which is always crying poor and which the rest of the state is always bailing out, is, cumulatively, the highest-taxed city in America).

Rather than lowering the sky-high rates that stifle innovation, cause job cuts, place a cap on new hires, and take capital from the free market, Wolf wants to expand such draconian policies. Instead of understanding why companies flee (and along with them Pennsylvania’s best and brightest), and figuring out what can be done to halt the exodus, the governor instead advocates penalizing the people and companies even more.

As an incredibly successful businessman, Wolf should understand the adage, “If you want less of something, tax it.” But he doesn’t.

2. Property Tax Red Herring: This is the biggest joke of all. Wolf’s tax hikes would allegedly provide some measure of property tax “relief.” The only problem is that it won’t work.

Even if taxpayers received a $1,000 rebate on their property taxes, how long do you think it will take counties and local school boards to raise property taxes after that? Try about five minutes. So Pennsylvanians would receive a small amount of temporary relief, yet be stuck with forever-higher sales and income taxes, all while watching their local property taxes continue to rise to fund a public school system that is failing our children.

Great plan, governor.

3. Education Black Hole: How many times does the obvious have to be stated, namely that throwing good money after bad isn’t just stupid, but ineffective.

Unless the teachers’ unions are reined in once and for all so that accountability can finally be instilled, thereby paving the way for reforms and competition, no amount of money will change a single thing. And this isn’t just a Philadelphia problem, but a statewide one.

There is no education funding “emergency.” The only crisis is the lack of educational achievement for the only ones who matter: our children.

The numbers tell the story:

School spending is over $25 billion annually, averaging nearly $15,000 per student (more than 39 other states), an amount that has doubled since 1996. Additionally, school district reserves grew by $445 million in 2013 to nearly $4 billion.

All this while the number of students has declined.

Despite a drop of 35,510 students since 2000, the public school system has added 35,821 employees in the same period. Therefore, by definition, increased funding, more personnel and decreased class size have not improved student achievement.

From SAT scores to literacy, Pennsylvania students rank near the bottom. Scores on standardized exams have not improved, and nearly one-third of all 11th-graders are not proficient in reading, while 40 percent do not achieve math proficiency on the dumbed-down PSSA tests. Yet, teacher salaries and benefits rank among the highest, and Pennsylvania leads the nation in school strikes every year.

So instead of fighting over more funding, which will produce squat, the governor and Legislature should focus on reforming the antiquated tenure and seniority rules and eliminating forced union dues that are used to wage multimillion dollar political campaigns to keep the status quo intact.

Then, and only then, will things start to improve.

4. Gov. Wolf vetoed bills that would have privatized Pennsylvania’s liquor stores and reformed the state’s exploding pension system. Both would have produced immense savings (negating the “need” to raise taxes), and, significantly, both had widespread public support. But taking a lesson from his incompetent predecessor (the other Tom), Wolf kicked the can down the road to our children. What a legacy after just six months on the job.

5. Taxing natural gas drillers: Once again, we’re told the energy industry needs to pay its “fair share,” an example of never letting facts stand in the way of fanciful political rhetoric.

First, taxing a particular industry is flat-out wrong. Second, that proposal implies the gas industry isn’t already being taxed. So the $600 million from the impact fee and over $2 billion in corporate taxes it has paid is make-believe? Imposing a job-killing severance tax on the grounds that other states are doing it is simply asinine. It would result in a production decline (thereby decreasing revenue) as the industry finds greener pastures elsewhere. And like all business taxes, it would be passed onto consumers.

Instead of penalizing the industry that has the best chance to revive Pennsylvania, Wolf should be embracing it. It has invested billions in capital projects, paid royalties to thousands of landowners, and created countless ancillary businesses, all of which produce jobs and fill government coffers.

If the GOP doesn’t stand its ground here, the goose that laid the golden egg will fly away.

Tom Wolf’s company makes cabinets efficiently and profitably, which is why it’s so disappointing to see the governor kowtow to special interests, forgetting all the lessons he learned in business.

If he had produced inferior cabinets, failed to hold his employees accountable, and lost money, CEO Wolf would have either gone out of business or changed things. That’s common sense. So why, as CEO of what should be a powerhouse state, has Wolf jettisoned those innovative ideas in favor of 20th-century “solutions” to 21st-century problems?

Tom Wolf has shown himself to be a sheep in wolf’s clothing. If he doesn’t start playing his cards right, he will soon be joining Tom Corbett in the one place he doesn’t want to be: the “One-Term Tom Club.”

Wolf Plan Unpopular With Public

Greed Mongers Attempt Intimidation

Greed Mongers Attempt Intimidation
Wolf failed to persuade, now seeks to bully.

By Leo Knepper

After vetoing the budget because the legislature refused to raise taxes on Pennsylvanians, Governor Wolf has unleashed the attack dogs.

Leading the pack is America Works, USA. This “dark money” group is affiliated with the Democratic Governors Association (DGA). Although America Works does not disclose its donors, the DGA does. Four out of the Top Five donors to the DGA are government unions. According to OpenSecrets.org, the top four unions contributed over $13 million to the DGA in 2014 alone.

America Works, USA has targeted a number of Representatives and Senators including Senator Scott Wagner. He has been an outspoken critic of the Governor’s tax and spend policies. Wagner has also been a vocal supporter of pension reform and ending the practice of using tax dollars to collect union dues. The mailer (which you can see here and here) accuses Wagner and others of having the wrong priorities. Considering that the government unions filling the DGA’s coffers survive off of tax dollars, it’s easy to understand why they think more spending and higher taxes is the right way to go. However, the taxpayers of Pennsylvania know otherwise.

The attempted intimidation doesn’t end there. Other CAP members, including Representatives Jason Ortitay and Aaron Kaufer have had union members showing up at their office demanding that they vote for higher taxes. Their encounters have been largely civil. However, the same cannot be said for Senator John Eichelberger. Eichelberger has had to call the police to report the intimidation tactics undertaken by members of the teachers’ union who want him to reverse his position on pension reform.

Despite the strong arm tactics of the Governor and his union allies, it looks like Republicans in both chambers are standing their ground. This willingness is a welcome departure from what happened during the Rendell years. Despite controlling the Senate for Rendell’s entire tenure and the House for a portion of it, the Republican caucus went along with a massive expansion of government spending.

Because of CAP and other conservative organizations, we don’t see that same complicity today. For the first time since Republican Governor Raymond Shafer caved and gave government employees, our employees, the right to strike, we see the General Assembly standing firm. The political environment has changed because the “sleeping giant” of Pennsylvania taxpayers is finally rousing from its slumber.

Mr. Knepper is with Citizens Alliance of Pennsylvania

Greed Mongers Attempt Intimidation

Wagner Explains How GOP Funds Budget Increase

Wagner Explains How GOP Funds Budget IncreaseBy Sen. Scott Wagner

The question of the week has been – how is the budget coming along?

The budget question has come in by email, telephone calls and by people that I have talked to face to face.

The answer is very simple – the budget process is at a complete standstill.

The Pennsylvania House and Senate passed a balanced budget on June 30th – even before the balanced budget reached the Governor’s desk he was issuing statements that he was going to veto the budget – within two hours of the budget reaching his desk – without any extensive review or discussions with the House and Senate – Governor Wolf vetoed the budget.

For a recap – the 2014-15 budget was $29,142,312,000 (Billion) – the proposed / balanced 2015-16 budget is $30,179,476,000 (Billion) an increase of $1,037,164,000 (Billion) or a 3.6% increase over the 2014-15 budget.

The budget passed was a responsible budget that did not increase taxes.

So one would ask where is the additional $1,037,164,000 (Billion) coming from ?

Here is the answer:

Stronger state revenues of $412.2 Million as of June 30th for the past twelve months, $200 million in additional revenue through liquor reforms, structural reform to the pension system which is the number one cost driver for the state and school districts – a combined total equal to approximately the one billion dollar budget increase.

On Tuesday July 7th John Micek a reporter for the Patriot News wrote a story titled “The PA Budget is among the priciest in the nation” – click on the link for the full story.

There are two bullet points in the article that jump out and grab your attention.

Point #1 – “Despite proposed cuts to some corporate taxes, Wolf’s proposed $4.5 billion tax package is the largest in the nation, the study found. The administration’s plan raises $1.5 billion from a higher personal income tax and $2.3 billion from a higher (and expanded) state sales tax.”

Point # 2 – “While other states consider a host of measures — from workforce cuts to Lottery expansion – to manage costs, Pennsylvania stands nearly alone in not employing any cost-control measures.”

The take away for readers – Governor Wolf’s tax increase is the largest in the nation and Governor Wolf is not doing anything about managing costs.

So what is Governor Wolf doing to solve the budget impasse?

Today as I write this email Governor Wolf is visiting a school district in Southeast PA promoting his budget and more public school spending….and….Governor Wolf is hitting the airwaves via TV ads funded by the National Democratic Governors Association who have in turn received contributions from public sector unions to criticize House and Senate Republicans over the budget.

Let me be loud and clear – “PA DOES NOT have a revenue problem – it has a spending problem.”

Instead of sitting at the negotiating table today with House and Senate leaders Governor Wolf is out of the office acting like he is running a political campaign.

I am a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee – this past March and April I personally sat through 33 budget hearings ranging from 1.5 hours to 3.5  hours – at least 80 – 100 hours of hearings.

As I have stated before, Senate Appropriations Chairman Pat Browne, who is a tax attorney and CPA, has done a commendable job leading the budget process.

I would be remiss if I did not also recognize all Senate Appropriations Committee members and Appropriations staff for their efforts.

In addition – I am a private sector business owner with over 35 years of private sector experience who has survived in business because I had to fully understand the concept of revenue and expenses, and how to read a financial statement inside and out.

Governor Wolf believes the solution to solve the budget issue is to allow his administration to discredit and insult Republicans via TV ads paid for by public sector unions and press releases from his office.

As always – I want feedback from my readers – if you are OK with tax increases please send me an email telling me so.

Thank You,

Scott Wagner

P.S. I just learned in the last 30 minutes that Governor Wolf announced that he intends to veto SB1 – the pension reform bill – so Governor Wolf will be 3 for 3 – he vetoed the budget, liquor store privatization and pension reform is next.

Sen. Wagner represents the 28th District in the Pennsylvania Senate.

Wagner Explains How GOP Funds Budget Increase

Wolf Veto Protected Special Interests

Wolf Veto Protected Special Interests -- State Sen. Scott Wagner (R-28) notes that the budget vetoed, June 30, by Gov. Wolf provided for structural reform to the pension system, which is the primary cost driver for the state government and school districts and contained significant increases to education across the board. It also did not raise taxes. So why did Wolf veto it? It disadvantaged the special interests that are his true constituency. We hope and pray that Wagner and the rest of the legislature stand by their guns and ignore the stones thrown by the old media which also put the special interests first rather than those who want to live their lives without taking from others.
Tom Wolf, governor for special interests

State Sen. Scott Wagner (R-28) notes that the budget vetoed, June 30, by Gov. Wolf provided for structural reform to the pension system, which is the primary cost driver for the state government and school districts and contained significant increases to education across the board.

It also did not raise taxes.

So why did Wolf veto it? It disadvantaged the special interests that are his true constituency.

We hope and pray that Wagner and the rest of the legislature stand by their guns and ignore the stones thrown by the old media which also put the special interests first rather than those who want to live their lives without taking from others.

 Wolf Veto Protected Special Interests

Pa Stays Open If Deadline Missed

By Sen. Scott Wagner Pa Stays Open If Deadline Missed

Everyone is under the assumption that the state budget MUST be completed by June 30 or the State of Pennsylvania shuts down.

This is an outright lie that has been used in the past and will be used again to intimidate the citizens of Pennsylvania.

Putting on my private sector business owner hat – every Wednesday our payroll departments electronically transfer the deducted employee state taxes to the PA Department of Revenue.

In addition, every day transactions occur throughout Pennsylvania that generate sales tax and other taxes – so the cash flow to Harrisburg does not stop.

Governor Wolf’s budget does not address any cost cutting, expense controls or efficiency projects  – Governor Wolf’s budget is very simple – RAISE REVENUE THROUGH MORE TAX REVENUE.

It is the goal of the PA State Senate to have a balanced budget without tax increases completed by June 30th to be sent to the Governor.

Let me be clear – Harrisburg does not have a revenue problem – it has a spending problem.

Prevailing wage mandates on public school districts, out of control benefit costs, and zero accountability for money being spent are a few examples.

I will be a NO vote on any tax increases – we MUST address the expense side of Pennsylvania Government first.

Governor Wolf continues to beat his drum that he wants to DUMP (and I use the word DUMP) $1 billion  in the public school system.

I am in total agreement that education for our children is the number one priority – the public school system has many components that need to be fixed, changed or eliminated before a billion dollars is thrown at the problem.

In the private sector, throwing money at a problem without stopping the leak that is causing the problem is called throwing money down a black hole.

Until the structural problems in the public school system are fixed – the $1 billion  that Governor Wolf wants to throw at the problem – the money will disappear – next year and every year to follow there will be some group who will be asking for more money to be DUMPED into the public school system.

Enough is enough !

Sen. Wagner represents Pennsylvania’s 28th District.

Pa Stays Open If Deadline Missed

Wolf Launches Stealth Attack Against Adolph

Wolf Launches Stealth Attack Against Adolph
State Rep. Bill Adolph

A flyer has been mailed to homes in Pennsylvania’s 165th Legislative District accusing its representative,  Bill Adolph, of all sorts of vile things like keeping $183,650 i.e. chump change from the Marple Newtown School District and keeping $268,807 from the Springfield School District.

Yes it is chump change.  The Marple Newtown money would not  cover the cost for a year of some Delaware County public school superintendent pensions. And the Springfield money could only keep former Penn State Vice President Gary Schultz living in the style to which he has become accustomed through  late September.

Wolf Launches Stealth Attack Against Adolph
Gov Tom Wolf, trying not to get his hands dirty

The flyer  was produced by America Works USA which is a non-profit group that works in the shadows of the Democratic Governors Association to keep the fingerprints of people like Tom Wolf off the dirty deeds.

Gov. Wolf is trying to pressure Rep. Adolph to help him in his plan to put a crushing tax burden on the gas drillers responsible for whatever economic sunshine that has come Pennsylvania’s way over the last seven years.

All, of course, without recognizing that the state has a major spending problem, not a revenue one. Pennsylvania already taxes the drillers 2.7 percent — on top of salaries, sales and the other usual economic activity that occurs during production. Increasing the taxes will either mean more cost passed onto the consumer — how much was your electric bill last month? — or curtailing production.

Adolph is working hard to fix the pension crisis and recognizes the burden Wolf’s tax plan will place on the citizens of his district. He needs their support.

Addendum: The $268,807 Adolph allegedly kept from the Springfield School District would not be a blip on the radar concerning lessening the impact of   the recently approved $140 million new Springfield High School. On the other hand, repealing the state’s prevailing wage law could see a 20-percent cost drop i.e. $28 million i.e. not chump change  in the price. If you are inclined to contact Adolph about something contact him about that. You would actually see your standard of living improve — or at least not drop so much — if that law was gone.

Note the matter of the Springfield High School now goes to the township for approval of construction. Springfield School Director Bruce Lord said at the final Town Hall, March 19, the process of construction will take years not months.

Wolf Launches Stealth Attack Against Adolph