PAtownhall.com
Pennsylvania's Marketplace of Ideas
Pennsylvania's Marketplace of Ideas
PAtownhall.com
Pennsylvania's Marketplace of Ideas
Pennsylvania's Marketplace of Ideas
House GOP reacts to governor's budget address
by News Release
Representative Sam Smith
Republican Leader
PA House of Representatives
NEWS RELEASE
Date: February 5, 2008 Contact: Kelly Fedeli (717) 787-3845
Internet: www.samsmithpahouse.com
Smith Says it's Groundhog Day All Over Again; Governor's Budget is More of the Same - Tax, Borrow and Spend
(HARRISBURG) - Reacting to Governor Ed Rendell's proposal to spend more, tax more, and borrow more in the 2008-09 state budget, Rep. Sam Smith (R-Jefferson) issued the following statement:
"Hearing the governor this morning reminded me a little of Groundhog Day," Smith said. "The governor stood up, saw his shadow and proposed more taxes, borrowing and spending. It's the same story, year after year. It took 227 years for the state budget to reach $20 billion, and it took Ed Rendell just six years to increase it another $8 billion.
"As we look ahead to a new budget, our goals are to control spending and basically ensure Pennsylvanians get value for their tax money. That means taking a hard look at the effectiveness of existing programs, eliminating duplication, and making sure we are doing as good of a job as possible with what's in place right now.
"There were some optimistic signs though.
"I am encouraged the governor talked about education accountability today; I believe it is dearly needed. More than $20 billion is spent educating our kids annually, of which more than $9.5 billion is from the state. With all that money being spent on teaching, why is it that more than 60 percent of the eighth-graders can't read or do math at their grade level? Why is it that 57,000 or 45 percent of high school graduates were not proficient in reading, writing or math?
"Between 45 and 60 percent of the kids entering Pennsylvania's community colleges have to take a remedial course in reading or math. That is paying for it twice. We agree there need to be accountability measures in place to ensure kids can perform the basics. If we dedicate new money, we need new, improved results.
"Another important issue for all of Pennsylvania touched upon today was health care. While I think we share the goal of ensuring everyone has access to health insurance, here again, there is a basic difference between our approach and the governor's. We have a plan to reach this goal without raising taxes, increasing government bureaucracy, or creating a whole new group of uninsured individuals because a government initiative has taken insurance away from one group to give it to another. Again, we can solve our problems in a fiscally responsible way without creating new programs and increasing taxes.
"Finally, the reason we are starting this fiscal year in reasonably good shape is because we pushed hard last year to control spending and defeat the governor's seven proposed tax increases. I hope we can continue that again this year. Our number one priority is to continue controlling spending and give people value for their tax dollar. That is what the people of Pennsylvania expect and what we will continue fighting for."
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