Harrisburg, July 10, 2016 – Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa (D-Allegheny) and Senate Democratic Appropriations Chair Vincent J. Hughes (D-Philadelphia/Montgomery) released the following comments in support of Gov. Tom Wolf’s announcement that he was allowing the state budget bill (Senate Bill 1073) to become law without his signature.
The governor said that he will continue working on a bipartisan revenue package to fund the $31.53 billion state spending plan for Fiscal 2016-17. The spending measure that cleared the Senate with a bipartisan 47 to 3 vote includes $200 million in new dollars for basic education, $20 million more for special education and additional fund for early childhood education.
Sen. Jay Costa:
“In letting the budget become law and keeping the dollars flowing for key programs, the governor is appropriately moving the state forward. The state spending plan is solid budget that includes new funds for basic education, special education, early childhood education and dollars for opioid treatment. Work must continue on a bipartisan basis to find the resources and revenues that are needed to fund these key initiatives.”
Sen. Vincent J. Hughes:
“The state budget was developed in a bipartisan way and it passed both chambers with overwhelming bipartisan support. While we all have differing priorities, I am pleased that the measure will go into effect so important social service programs and funding initiatives are not interrupted. Revenues are tight and choices hard, but we must continue working in a bipartisan way to find sustainable revenues and balance the state spending plan.”
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Harrisburg – Feb. 9, 2016 – Facing an unfinished 2015-16 budget with the need to reconcile a 2016-17 spending plan that has a looming $2 billion deficit, Gov. Tom Wolf was forced to focus his second state budget proposal on education and deficit reduction, according to Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa (D-Allegheny.)
“Lawmakers have choices to make about Pennsylvania’s future; deal with tough issues up front or watch Pennsylvania wither as a consequence of self-inflicted fiscal wounds,” Costa said. “We need to come together and negotiate a bipartisan budget with the governor that makes key investments in education and deals with a $2 billion structural deficit.”
Wolf presented his $32.7 billion spending plan before a joint session of the General Assembly today. The plan uses the $30.8 billion yet-to-be-enacted budget agreement from last fall as the foundation for this year’s plan.
For 2016-17, the governor calls for $200 million more in education funding, $50 million for special education and an additional $60 million in pre-K dollars. The budget also focuses on tackling the estimated $2 billion deficit in 2017 with a revenue enhancement package.
“It is incredibly frustrating to deal with issues year after year because there is no political will in the state House to finish the job it was sent to Harrisburg to do,” Senate Democratic Appropriations Chair Sen. Vincent J. Hughes (D-Philadelphia) said. “We need to complete the 2015-16 budget and get to work in dealing with those issues that are holding us back.
“Lawmakers can address the deficit and invest in education as a simple, direct approach that will pay dividends for years to come or they will have to explain why deep long-lasting cuts have to be made again.”
In his speech, the governor painted a picture of Pennsylvania’s landscape if there is continued inaction on adopting a reasonable forward-looking budget. He said property taxes will rise, human services will be stripped of funds and drug assistance programs for seniors would be slashed.
Senate Democratic Whip, Sen. Anthony H. Williams (D-Philadelphia/Delaware) said it is unwise for Pennsylvania to continue to jump from one fiscal crisis to another and that a bipartisan budget is a necessity.
“The negotiated agreement that passed the Senate in December proved that a bipartisan budget could be crafted even in a very partisan environment,” Williams said. “That spending plan included healthy education investments, support for job creation, human services, seniors and our most vulnerable.
“This budget plan makes lawmakers face up to the reality that if nothing is done to address the budget deficit than its growth will swamp all other initiatives.”
The proposed budget for 2016-17 is built from the budget agreement that awaits a final vote in the state House. However, if there is continued inaction there will be a $500 million deficit by the end of the year that will balloon to a deficit in excess of $2 billion next year.
The governor also said if lawmakers refused to act, funds for state-related universities (Penn State, Pitt, Temple and Lincoln) would be eliminated, another $1 billion would be cut from basic education, human services funding would be reduced by $600 million, and property taxes would skyrocket.
Wolf proposed a revenue package to deal with the deficit and make education investments. His plan would include an increase in the Personal Income Tax from 3.07 percent to 3.4 percent, sales tax expansions, taxes on tobacco, banks and the imposition of a new 6.5 percent tax on shale drilling.
“The Senate worked with the governor in a bipartisan way to produce an accord last year that would have addressed many of Pennsylvania’s most pressing issues,” Hughes said, noting that the bipartisan budget passed the Senate 43-7.
The legislature will soon begin a series of budget hearings to examine Gov. Wolf’s 2016-17 budget in detail.
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Senator Jay Costa: Mr. President, I rise today to offer the resolution, which was pronounced that recognizes September 27th through October 3rd as Arts & Education Week here in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Arts and education, Mr. President, is important. And the statistics and the studies prove that. And here are just a few. Mr. President, students who study, study the arts are four times more likely to be recognized for academic achievement. And those same students are also three times more likely to be awarded for school attendance. And finally, Mr. President, students with four years of art and music average 40 points higher on the written portion of the SAT’s than students who have less than that amount of time.
And Mr. President, I can go on and on. The studies reflect and the statistics reflect that arts and education is a valuable investment.
On this chamber floor, Mr. President, we’ve recognized many, many budding artists for their work and for their achievements. And virtually everywhere we go you’ll see evidence of the arts and art communities. And here in our own commonwealth and our own senate chamber, Senator Dinniman referenced earlier today we see the great work of Violet Oakley, a woman was the very first contract, the state public contract to produce the beautiful murals that we see not only in this chamber but across this, this General Assembly and this capitol building. Those are the type of things that we want to replicate throughout our communities.
And more than that likely, more than likely the spark of the love, the spark for the love of the arts that she exhibited and many folks since that time have exhibited was really born out of elementary school where the child had the first opportunity to express themselves either through the arts in the form of pictures, drawing, painting, through music or the theater. And sadly, Mr. President, arts and music programs across our Commonwealth continue to suffer, particularly after the four, four years of deep cuts in education funding.
This is a challenge that means that we must work and we must be resourceful in seeking funds and opportunities to make sure that the arts, that arts and education programs are sufficiently funded.
Finally, Mr. President, we cannot forget a key point in the importance of arts and education. And that is education is not the only benefit of the arts when we make those investments. The arts are a proven contributor to a job creation and economic growth and activity. Something that we’re always working on here in Pennsylvania and to restore to our communities.
We’re, recently a study by the Americans For the Arts drew a direct correlation between investments in the arts and job growth and economic development and activity. And that investment begins in our schools. According to this study the arts generated $2.55 billion in total economic activity and $1.8 billion in household income to local residents and support more than 18,000 full-time jobs here in Pennsylvania. That’s why we need to continue to make investments in the arts and the arts and education particularly.
And that arts deliver $360 million in local and state government revenue. That’s what the arts mean to our local communities aside from the benefit that it provides to the individuals who are participating.
Mr. President, my good friend and colleague, the Appropriations Chair from the other side of the aisle, Senator Pat Browne and I co-chair, along with Representative Briggs and Representative Saylor, we co-chair what’s called the Arts and Cultural, Arts and Cultural Caucus, which is a bipartisan, bicameral group of lawmakers, together with advocates for the arts, who are dedicated in helping to grow the arts, provide intelligent information about the activities of the arts, and to help the arts and the cultural community flourish here in Pennsylvania.
And we had a meeting earlier today here in the capitol and heard about two wonderful organizations who are dedicated to ensuring, to ensuring that our youngest children are given the opportunity to explore the arts in their community. And if you didn’t have an opportunity to join us, I suggest and encourage that you come to one of our next meetings, but specifically go to our website, Arts and—paartsculturalcaucaus.com and you will find the two PowerPoint presentations that were made today along those lines. They were presentations from the Pennsylvania Humanities Council and the work that they do working with after-school programs in our libraries, as well as the presentations from the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in the, in Western Pennsylvania.
It’s truly a way to see evidence and to hear stories about how our investments are making a difference in the lives of children and their families.
So Mr. President, I know and I believe in arts and education. And I believe in the value for Pennsylvania, for our families and our kids. And I’d like to believe that all my colleagues do the same. So to that end, Mr. President, I ask that my colleagues join me in recognizing September 27th through October 3rd, 2015 as Arts & Education Week here in Pennsylvania.
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Harrisburg, June 18, 2015 − Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa (D-Allegheny), Sens. Andy Dinniman (D-Chester) and Rob Teplitz (D-Dauphin/Perry) who serve as members of the Basic Education Funding Commission (BEFC) today hailed the new proposed statewide education funding formula as a responsible, predicable and equitable approach that would improve education for all students.
The formula, which the commission is recommending to be used to distribute basic education funding from the state to local school districts, was unveiled and unanimously adopted at a commission meeting this morning in Harrisburg. The proposal still has to be approved by the General Assembly.
The senators said the plan would address the wide inequity in education resources that hold back students from the poorest districts.
The formula contains five factors that reflect the actual costs of educating children in various economic circumstances: poverty, poverty concentration, English language learners, charter school enrollment, and district size. Local tax effort and tax capacity are also included, as is a determination of relative wealth of a district based on median income.
Pennsylvania is only one of three states that have no funding formula for public schools and has the distinction of having the most inequitable spending for poor students in the country.
The commission did exemplary work in crafting a new funding formula that is meaningful and substantive, Costa said. The commission was able to cut through politics, regional bias and complex issues to produce a funding structure that, if fully funded, will help students, parents, teachers, administrators and taxpayers.
Dinniman said he is pleased with the new funding formula but its success is totally dependent on the General Assembly providing sufficient dollars to ensure that all students have an equal opportunity to be educated to the top of the curriculum.
The goal is to improve performance statewide and eliminate funding disparities that plague student development by removing funding impediments so state funding is equitably distributed, said Dinniman, who serves as the Senate Democratic Education Chair, said. For too long, Pennsylvania school children and taxpayers have had to overcome funding challenges which were created in Harrisburg.
The new funding formula will rectify the imbalance and equitably spread funding.
Teplitz, who is a member of the Senate Education and Appropriations committees, praised the commissions process of developing a fair formula that was crafted in a bipartisan, open, and inclusive way. Its equally important to ensure that basic education is also properly funded, he said.
The formula that was developed by the commission on a bipartisan basis addresses funding equity, but we also must ensure that our schools are also adequately funded. If we want all kids to have access to a quality public education, we must not only divide up the pie more fairly, but also increase the size of the pie itself, said Teplitz. Being a member of this commission was a tremendous experience and I look forward to continuing to fight for our children.
Recognizing the need to develop a predictable, fair, and equitable education funding formula, the General Assembly passed Act 51 in 2014 that created the commission. BEFC has 15 members, including 12 legislative appointees and 3 cabinet officials. Costa, Teplitz and Dinniman are the current Democratic appointees. Sen. Matt Smith (D-Allegheny) served as a member of the committee until his announced departure from the Senate.
The senators said the formula represents a fair and equitable way to disburse education dollars for funding public education. The poorest 25 percent of districts will be getting an average of four times more from the formula than the richest 25 percent of districts.
Costa said because the formula was developed on a bipartisan basis with input from the administration, he was hopeful that the formula would be supported by increased education funding in the upcoming state budget.
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Contact: Stacey Witalec
Telephone: 717 877-2997
Email: switalec@pasenate.com
