Harrisburg – April 3, 2012 – At a news conference outside the doors of the Senate Chamber, state Senate Democrats unveiled a budget plan calling for more than $1 billion in new investments to help create jobs, fund education and repair the social safety net.
The Senate Democrats’ plan does not require a tax increase.
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Sen. Jay Costa, the Democratic floor leader, said that caucus budget priorities are “balanced and fair because the plan does not contain general tax increases yet it provides for hundreds of millions dollars for new investments in job creation, education, social safety net programs and property tax reductions.”
Costa (D-Allegheny) said that Senate Democrats believe they can cull more than $1 billion in new revenues if Gov. Tom Corbett is willing to engage in discussions.
Costa said that the Senate Democratic budget priorities rely on rebalancing debt, implementing innovation and efficiencies and leveraging federal money.
“We have been promised that we will have a seat at this year’s budget negotiations and we plan on bringing an aggressive, principle-driven plan to the attention of the governor and legislative Republicans,” Costa said.
Last year, Costa and House Democratic colleagues were excluded from budget discussions.
The Corbett administration and Republican negotiators produced a widely-scorned budget plan that eviscerated social safety net programs, caused local property taxes to spike, education programs to suffer, and teachers to be laid off – a plan that “failed to meet the needs of working families,” Costa said.
Senate Democratic Appropriations Chairman Sen. Vincent J. Hughes (D-Philadelphia) said that Senate Democrats were going to closely examine the Corbett administration budget figures given their experience of last year.
“Last year, the governor missed the revenue surplus by ten-fold and significantly underestimated the cost of their bonus depreciation gift to big business,” Hughes said. “We believe that with a true reckoning of revenue this year, combined with the implementation of our budget ideas, we can make investments that create jobs now and meet challenges faced by working families.”
Hughes said Senate Democrats would like to add at least $250 million into Accountability Block Grants and higher education along with another $200 million in job creation strategies that include research and development. He said that his Senate Democratic colleagues are renewing their call to refocus unused cash in the Commonwealth Financing Authority (CFA) for job creation.
Hughes also indicated that the amount of money that Democrats are requesting for each item will grow if more revenues become available.
According to Costa, if the Senate Democratic budget priorities are captured and used for the 2012-13 budget plan, overall General Fund spending would only slightly rise – an increase of less than 1.5 percent.
“Our participation in budget discussions will hopefully prevent another budget filled with cuts that have had far-reaching ramifications,” Costa said. “With the resources available and more revenues gained through efficiencies and program adjustments there is no reason why we can’t move Pennsylvania forward now.”
Costa said Corbett’s last budget was unpopular and crafted to benefit big business at the expense of working families and small business.
“Senate Democrats are planning to be proactive in budget negotiations and are willing to have discussions with lawmakers and the administration to achieve a fair, reasonable and responsible spending plan,” Costa said.
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