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Senator Lloyd Smucker Reaction to Governor Rendell's State Budget ProposalGovernor Rendell described the still severe economic and fiscal challenges Pennsylvania faces this year and in the years ahead. Unfortunately, his budget does not offer the right set of remedies for families and communities. Even though the Governor frequently says that spending increases and additional taxes are the right thing to do, those seem the wrong things for families and small businesses already hard hit by the recession. With revenues continuing to come in more slowly than expected, and with a sizable new budget deficit building, which the Governor projects to be over half a billion dollars, there should more caution shown on state spending. Cutting spending across most of the budget to help support a big increase in education shortchanges a lot of good and productive community efforts. For example, slicing money for autism, and veterans, and the disabled makes little sense. Meanwhile, less-than-necessary items such as the film tax credit continue to be funded. The Governor is going to find it hard to convince people that tax changes producing more money for state government are not actually tax increases. Relying on extra federal money to supplement state spending makes the shortfall problem larger when the federal dollars stop coming. Solving a serious problem with public pensions requires more than stretching out the payments. We are going to have to change the benefit structure to truly contain future costs. The public rightly expects the state budget to be done by the deadline this year, especially after last year's extended crisis. But what the Governor proposed will likely require substantial changes to gain sufficient legislative support. There will be tough questions asked about spending
priorities and program results during the budget hearings held by the Senate
Appropriations Committee the over next three weeks. | |||
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