{"id":111037,"date":"2022-02-08T23:30:27","date_gmt":"2022-02-09T04:30:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=111037"},"modified":"2022-02-08T23:30:27","modified_gmt":"2022-02-09T04:30:27","slug":"senate-republican-leaders-governors-budget-less-about-pennsylvania-more-about-legacy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=111037","title":{"rendered":"Senate Republican Leaders: Governor\u2019s Budget Less About Pennsylvania, More About Legacy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gov. Wolf\u2019s budget increases spending by more than $4.5 billion, leading to higher taxes and energy costs.<\/em>
\n<\/u><\/strong>
\nHARRISBURG, Pa.\u00a0–\u00a0<\/em>Republican leaders in the Senate cautioned Pennsylvanians that they would be on the hook to pay for Gov. Tom Wolf\u2019s legacy if the recommendations outlined in today\u2019s State Budget Address are implemented.<\/p>\n

Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman (R-Bellefonte), Senate Majority Leader Kim Ward (R-Westmoreland), and Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Pat Browne (R-Lehigh) said the governor\u2019s plan to increase spending by more than $4.5 billion would come at the expense of Pennsylvania\u2019s long-term financial security. The money Wolf is proposing to spend on one-time expenses could be better spent over the next several years to prevent massive tax increases.\u00a0 Furthermore, Gov. Wolf\u2019s massive spending plan comes at a time when we are trying to help Pennsylvania business owners get back on their feet, while also working to return the economic and personal freedoms to Pennsylvania residents that were limited with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman (R-Bellefonte):
\n<\/strong>\u201cPennsylvanians will not forget how terribly the Wolf Administration mismanaged the COVID-19 pandemic. Now he is trying to buy back the support of alienated voters by using money that we already planned to invest in the health, safety and prosperity of our citizens in the years ahead. Instead of caving in to Gov. Wolf\u2019s transparent attempt to distract from his past failures, we will work to pass a realistic and responsible budget that meets the core needs of our communities and puts people first.\u201d<\/p>\n

Senate Majority Leader Kim Ward (R-Westmoreland):
\n<\/strong>\u201cIt\u2019s important that we help Pennsylvanians move beyond the financial strains we have all felt the last couple of years due to the pandemic, and work towards helping our businesses and our families to move forward. Shaking off the negative economic impacts is easier said than done. Every action that affects our economy and that we take as a government should be to help, not hinder. A spending increase of $4.5 billion will not be helpful. It will only intensify the personal financial pressures on Pennsylvanians in the form of higher taxes, energy prices, and the overall economic conditions confronting our nation including inflation and supply chain disruptions. Spending billions right now may sound appealing, but that can’t be done in a vacuum. Pennsylvanians will pay for that. Pennsylvania\u2019s budget requires discipline that continues to move the Commonwealth towards a path of economic stability and success, not a budget that saddles our families with legacy payments. This budget kind of reminds me of Wimpy from the Popeye cartoon \u2013 \u2018I will gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today.\u2019 It doesn’t work.”<\/p>\n

Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Pat Browne (R-Lehigh):
\n<\/strong>\u201cWhile this year\u2019s revenues continue to outpace estimates, the long-term financial picture for the Commonwealth remains uncertain. The Governor\u2019s revenue and spending projections over the next several years are unrealistic, do not align with traditional rates of growth and will make worse our existing structural imbalance. Using more traditional growth rates that are in line with those used by the Commonwealth\u2019s Independent Fiscal Office, the Commonwealth will see a negative balance of $13 billion by FY 2026-27 if the Governor\u2019s spending becomes law. Given those concerns, the Governor\u2019s proposal for major increases in spending is very troubling. If enacted, his proposal will require large tax increases to Pennsylvania taxpayers and job creators to meet the level of spending the Governor proposes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Information provided to TVL by:
\nMatt Szuchyt
\nDeputy Director of Policy & Communications
\nSenator Pat Browne
\nMajority Appropriations Chairman
\nPA 16th Senatorial District
\nwww.senatorbrowne.com<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gov. Wolf\u2019s budget increases spending by more than $4.5 billion, leading to higher taxes and energy costs. HARRISBURG, Pa.\u00a0–\u00a0Republican leaders in the Senate cautioned Pennsylvanians that they would be on … Continue reading Senate Republican Leaders: Governor\u2019s Budget Less About Pennsylvania, More About Legacy<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":111038,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[69,482],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-111037","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-in-the-valley","category-press-release-2"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/HARRISBURG-budget.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111037"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=111037"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111037\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/111038"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=111037"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=111037"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=111037"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}