Budget Impasse Represents Governor’s Failed Leadership
The clock continues to tick. We’re in the middle of July, and while most of your lives haven’t been interrupted by it, Pennsylvania still has no state budget. It’s been nearly two weeks since Gov. Tom Wolf vetoed a state budget approved by the General Assembly. That plan would have spent $30.18 billion, it didn’t raise taxes, it gave more money for our schools, and it provided for our Commonwealth’s essential needs, including public safety and various human services.
My colleagues and I delivered that state budget plan on June 30. The governor vetoed it. He has not offered an alternative since, so here we are in the middle of the governor’s self-created state budget impasse that is all about one thing: more taxes. He claims he wants a “government that works”; however, his recent decisions to veto the budget plan and meaningful reforms to the public pension systems and current liquor system seem to be working against that notion. These actions represent irresponsible and failed leadership on his part. I can no longer sit still and watch quietly.
Just last week, it was estimated that nearly $13 billion in state funds is being withheld from state agencies and state government service providers due to the governor’s full budget veto. These services include those that educate our kids and assist victims of rape and domestic violence, among many others.
Why is this happening? This was 100 percent avoidable. We passed a sustainable budget. Instead, the governor wants to increase taxes by $12.7 billion over the next two years, and he’s fixated on wanting to massively increase income and sales taxes on the backs of hard-working taxpayers. The House voted on his tax increases back on June 1, and not one person, Republican or Democrat, voted in favor of it.
I have talked to several residents in the 124th District over the last two weeks about what they would like to see as the outcome of the governor’s budget impasse. Overwhelmingly, they say they don’t want higher taxes. This concerns me because quite frankly, from what I’ve seen, I don’t think there is a Pennsylvania tax that this governor wouldn’t like to create or increase. If you disagree with my position, and you would like to pay more in income and sales taxes, please let me know.
The governor who has done nothing more than cry “no” needs to give serious consideration to our public pension systems which are currently more than $50 billion in the red. He also needs to get the state out of the liquor-selling business, and let the private sector do what it does best. The Legislature worked together to pass meaningful reform measures to address both of these issues in June, but the governor said “no” and vetoed them, along with the budget.
I urge the governor to stop thinking about the public-sector union leadership that contributed millions to get him elected, and start thinking about the hard-working taxpayers of Pennsylvania who can’t afford his tax hikes.
Representative Jerry Knowles
124th District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
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