Area legislators comment on Wolf’s budget proposal

WILKES-BARRE — State Sen. Lisa Baker Tuesday said Gov. Tom Wolf’s proposed $45.7 billion state budget for the 2022-2023 fiscal year would increase General Fund spending by $4.5 billion from the current fiscal year’s approved budget.

Baker, R-Lehman Township, said the proposed spending includes $2 billion in federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds. She said including the expenditure of federal dollars returned to Pennsylvania during the pandemic, the governor’s budget represents a 10.9% increase in spending.

According to Senate Appropriations Committee budget projections, the governor’s plan will produce a $1.3 billion deficit for the 2023-24 fiscal year and create an even bigger bill for Pennsylvania taxpayers to pay long after the governor leaves office: a $13 billion deficit by 2026-27.

“Gov. Wolf’s final budget proposal is unrealistic financially, economically, and politically,” Baker said. “The astronomical increases in proposed spending for the upcoming fiscal year are more than concerning. As I have the opportunity to speak with individuals across our region, I am reminded of the many families who strive to live within their means, and expect government to do the same. It would be foolish to overload this budget with new spending that cannot be sustained in coming years.”

Baker added, at this point, without any financial deficits to contend with, it is reasonable to expect a balanced and fiscally responsible budget by the constitutional deadline. She said the most serious challenge is to restrain overall spending, in order to avoid creating a deficit next year.

“Too many of Gov. Wolf’s large requests appear to be political statements, more than investments that can be explained and justified to taxpayers,” Baker said. “Shortfalls in previous budgets and the dislocations caused by the pandemic, necessitate prudent spending in education, health care, public safety, transportation infrastructure, elections administration, and broadband access.”

Baker said the governor has been quite open about treating this as a legacy budget.

“The reality is that he will not be here to weather the consequences of the massive spending plan he has proposed,” Baker said. “His legacy can be best influenced by putting down his veto pen and enacting meaningful legislation that respects hardworking families across Pennsylvania.”

Yudichak

Sen. John Yudichak, I-Swoyersville, said Pennsylvania families are struggling to make ends meet through rising inflation and higher energy costs, while policy makers in Harrisburg and Washington D.C. are recklessly spending their hard-earned tax dollars on partisan programs that divert attention from the task at hand — helping families recover from the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I applaud the governor for advocating for $225 million for small business assistance, but it is not enough and gets completely negated by the governor’s $410 million Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) tax that will increase utility bills for every small business and every homeowner in Pennsylvania,” Yudichak said.

“I agree with the governor that more funding must be invested in our schools and in our frontline health care workers, but these budget priorities are hijacked by a progressive agenda that will swell the state’s budget deficit to a $1.3 billion deficit, which amounts to nothing more than a delayed tax increase on Pennsylvania taxpayers.”

Boback

Rep. Karen Boback, R-Harveys Lake, said Wolf’s budget proposal fails to consider Pennsylvania’s future financial health.

“Now the work of the legislative branch begins, as we strive to develop a more reasonable spending plan for Pennsylvania,” Boback said. “For my part, I will analyze each line item in the budget, checking its viability, cost factor and the potential financial impact to the Commonwealth.”

Boback said the problem she sees at the onset of the budget process is the influx of federal funds resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. She said the last time the state received that kind of federal support was during the Great Recession.

“Just like then, this was a one-time deposit and we cannot expect the same level of funding next year,” Boback said. “We don’t need to spend every penny we have on hand, as the governor wants to do, knowing that it simply won’t be there down the road.”

Boback noted that the House Appropriations Committee will conduct a series of budget hearings starting Tuesday, Feb. 15, to examine the details of the governor’s plan and how state departments and agencies are spending their funding.

Kaufer

Rep. Aaron Kaufer, R-Kingston, said, “The governor’s budget proposal seeks to grow state spending by an unprecedented 16.6% over the prior year. We cannot recklessly spend money and incur future budget deficits by using one-time funds that will create long-term problems.”

Carroll

Rep. Mike Carroll, D-Avoca, said, “In addition to the significant and vital increases to public education, I am pleased the governor is advocating for cyber charter reform, a minimum wage increase and more sincere funding for PennDOT and our state’s transit systems.”

Efforts to reach state Reps. Eddie Day Pashinski, D-Wilkes-Barre, and Gerald Mullery, D-Newport Township, were unsuccessful on Tuesday.