HARRISBURG, Feb. 9, 2010 – State Sen. Jay Costa,
D-Allegheny, issued the following statement today regarding
the governor’s budget address:
“By leaving broad-based taxes off the table to balance next
year’s budget, I think Governor Rendell made it much more
likely that we’ll get the budget finished on time and
without brinkmanship.
It’s clear that the recession is still taking a toll on
Pennsylvania’s economy, but our focus on jobs and education
has kept us ahead of most other states and put us in
position to maintain that advantage as the economy gets
traction.
Last year’s long, painful budget process made it clear that
we have to focus on what is working and what is not if we
are going to both balance the budget and continue economic
progress.
More aggressive investments in education are paying off in
better performance by our schools, and continued steps
toward adequate funding is vital to our economic future.
The Governor didn’t shy away from longer term budget
challenges either. We remain among a dwindling number of
states still giving multi-state corporations tax advantages
over home-grown businesses and we must step up to close that
loophole and invest that revenue to grow our economy. Our
corrections system is busting the budget while having little
effect on public safety. They are both problems we can’t
pass along any longer.
We’ve taken on tough reforms before, and made painful cuts
to live within our means, but I hope the Governor’s
professed goal to enact a budget without additional employee
layoffs can be achieved. Total management and productivity
savings adopted since 2003 now save the commonwealth more
than $1.75 billion annually.”
This year our first and foremost goal is to pass a
responsible budget on time and put our commonwealth back to
work.