Harrisburg – July 10, 2014 – Members of Senate Democratic Leadership issued the following statements concerning Gov. Tom Corbett’s line-item veto of funding for the General Assembly and his renewed call for lawmakers to consider pension reform:
Senate Democratic Leader, Sen. Jay Costa (D-Allegheny) said:
“Governor Corbett’s action today clearly illustrates the Republican gridlock and dysfunction that has descended on state government. It is hard to fathom what Governor Corbett believes he can achieve. This is a Republican budget mess, crafted solely by Republicans and delivered to the citizens of Pennsylvania by a party that lacks leadership at the top.
“The line-item veto of a portion of the General Assembly’s funding does nothing to address the needs of Pennsylvania. His actions today will not help schools students, job seekers or the vulnerable in need of assistance. The budget, and his actions, are politically-driven and do not solve problems.”
Senate Democratic Appropriations Chair, Sen. Vincent J. Hughes (D-Philadelphia/Montgomery) said:
“The General Assembly is a co-equal branch of government and should not be held hostage to the ideological whims and political demands of a governor who is struggling to find his footing in an election year.
“His renewed call for the legislature to revisit a pension reform plan that could not navigate its way through the House, let alone the Senate, epitomizes a Republican Party that is bankrupt of ideas trying to push a pension plan that will bankrupt Pennsylvania’s taxpayers.”
Senate Democratic Whip, Sen. Anthony H. Williams (D-Philadelphia/Delaware) said:
“The governor’s actions today, and his indecision and dawdling over the last ten days, reinforce the need for Pennsylvania to go in a new direction. There is no question that we need leadership now because we are going the wrong way under Governor Corbett.
“The budget that was passed is filled with gimmicks and accounting tricks, many of which the governor himself outlined. Renewing debate on a pension plan that is short-sighted and ill-constructed combined with a line-item veto of legislative funds will not force the General Assembly to buckle and act against the interest of the citizens of Pennsylvania.”
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Sham plan fails schools, job creation, and human services
Harrisburg – June 30, 2014 – State Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa, (D-Allegheny) slammed Gov. Tom Corbett’s budget for Fiscal Year 2014-15 as “remarkably shallow and incredibly insincere because it manages to underfund schools, job creation and human services while being balanced by unsustainable budget gimmicks, rosy revenue projections, accounting tricks and fund transfers.
“It is hard to put together a budget where everyone loses, but the governor has managed to do it this again this year,” Costa said. “This $29.1 billion spending plan is not a blueprint for the future, it is an election year parlor trick.
“The plan is misguided and inappropriate and policymakers need to quickly change course and go in a new direction.”
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The Democratic leader said that Pennsylvania school students, teachers and taxpayers are still reeling from the $1 billion in education cuts that Corbett authored in previous budgets. The result is that there has been a cumulative loss of nearly $3 billion in state resources. The slight adjustment in education funding in this year’s budget does little to make up lost ground, he noted.
Costa said this year’s budget didn’t have to be so harsh. He said that if the governor would have supported a severance tax, there would have been revenue available to meet needs this year and provide sustainable funding for years to come.
The Allegheny County lawmaker said the governor insisted there would be no shale extraction tax vote to fund education and other needs if his pension and liquor priorities weren’t addressed.
“Governor Corbett had an opportunity to lead by accepting a shale extraction tax that would have funded schools, job programs and human services,” Costa said. “Instead, he played political games with the energy tax and tried to push priorities that are ideologically based and politically motivated.
“The cut budget contains little hope and lots of pain for the citizens of Pennsylvania.”
Costa said that “there is no question that Pennsylvania needs to go a different way using a different approach and with different leadership.”
Senate Democrats attempted to amend the plan to add $275 million in education funding, $40 million for job creation programs and $28 million to restore human services that had been cut by Corbett in previous budgets. Those efforts were turned aside by the Republican majority.
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Calls on Corbett to Abandon Pension, Liquor, Revenue Linkage
Harrisburg – June 29, 2014 – State Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa (D-Allegheny) today called on Gov. Tom Corbett to stop holding new dedicated funding for students, job creation, senior citizens and human services hostage in exchange for his pension and liquor reforms.
“It is not too late for the governor to abandon his politically motivated budget negotiating position that will result in a cut budget and hardship for citizens across Pennsylvania,” Costa said. “There is broad support in the General Assembly for a new severance tax for education, job creation and human services without linkage to ideological issues like pension reform and liquor privatization, which have no impact on this year’s budget.”
Costa said that despite the projected $1.5 billion plus budget deficit there are options available to the governor and legislative leaders to address key funding areas. He said that a new 5 percent shale extraction tax would generate in excess of $700 million and expanding Medicaid would create $400 million more.
“Expanding Medicaid doesn’t just help 500,000 individuals, including 23,000 veterans, gain access to health insurance, the savings and revenues that are generated have the potential to save the governor’s budget from becoming a fiasco,” Costa said.
Costa said that without new revenue, Republican Senate and House budget negotiators will have to cobble together a spending plan that uses budget cuts, accounting tricks and one-time transfers that will do long term harm. The governor’s own budget plan released in February used budget gimmicks.
“The governor’s bargaining position is a non-starter that threatens school funding increases, economic development investment and the ability to restore funds that were cut from his last three budgets,” Costa said. “If the governor does not relent and support new revenues such as the extraction tax and Medicaid expansion, there is going to be massive budget problems and fiscal pain that will be felt by taxpayers for years to come.”
“A good example of a cut budget was the spending plan offered by House Republicans which does little to help schools, slashes job-creating tax credits and fails to address key social service programs,” Costa said. “Students, teachers and taxpayers have suffered enough in trying to deal with the governor’s $1 billion cut and his last three budgets.”
The Pittsburgh-area lawmaker said there are even more revenues and savings options. He said that his caucus announced a detailed plan that would generate more than $1.1 billion in savings and revenues. Senate Democrats have also offered their own pension reform and liquor modernization plans.
“If the governor would just expand Medicaid and join us in supporting a 5 percent shale tax we could bolster saving and revenues by more than a billion dollars without impacting individual taxpayers,” Costa said.
Costa said that there is still time to do a budget correctly but that requires the governor and legislative Republicans to bring Senate and House Democrats on board.
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Harrisburg – June 27, 2014 – State Sen. Jay Costa (D-Allegheny) released the following statement concerning the UPMC-Highmark transition agreement. The agreement specifies care options that will be available to health-care consumers in Western Pennsylvania beginning Jan. 1, 2015. The current contract between the two companies expires at the end of this year.
Costa’s statement is as follows:
“The UPMC-Highmark transition agreement provides a path forward for health-care consumers in the Pittsburgh area. The agreement does not go as far as I would have preferred, but there are positive aspects of the negotiated settlement that should be embraced by patients, doctors and communities throughout the region.
“While the agreement is not an extension of the UPMC-Highmark contract, it does preserve in-network access to specialty hospitals, emergency rooms and certain treatment facilities. It also addresses coverage for Medicare.
“Many of us have worked hard both in public discussions and private meetings to talk through approaches and forge an agreement. There were many different options and alternatives available, including a legislative approach favored by Sen. Vulakovich, Reps. Frankel and Christiana and me that would have resolved the disagreement once and for all.
“The UPMC-Highmark dispute has simmered too long. Now that the agreement has been reached, the stress and apprehension that too many health-care consumers have faced for too long can be relieved.”
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Harrisburg – June 17, 2014 – Legislation authored by the Democratic leader of the Senate, Sen. Jay Costa (D-Allegheny), which would improve how pooled trusts are administered, has been approved by the state Senate.
“The measure changes the calculation of how funds are to be distributed after the beneficiary dies,” Costa said. “The legislation retains the original purpose of the bill which allows funding to be used for the benefit of all individuals who are serviced by the trust.”
Under current law, a trust may retain up to 50 percent of a beneficiary’s account for to be distributed to other beneficiaries. The remaining 50 percent of the account is reimbursed to Pennsylvania equal to the total amount of Medical Assistance that was paid on behalf of the beneficiary.
“The bill was designed to benefit those individuals who would otherwise not have access to pooled resources,” Costa said. “The legislation broadens the scope of how funds can be spent and allows pooled trust funds to be used in support of those
The bill was amended on the Senate floor to change the details about how the fund should be split. The new language requires that if there are funds not retained by the trust after the beneficiary dies, then the trust reimburses Pennsylvania or other states an amount that covers the cost of providing Medical Assistance to the beneficiary from the funds not retained by the trust.
The bill now goes to the state House of Representatives.
Harrisburg – June 6, 2014 – State Sen. Jay Costa (D-Allegheny) will be hosting a live interactive Teletown Hall for constituents on Tuesday, June 10 at 7:05 p.m.
“This is the first time that I will be hosting a telephone town hall and I am excited about using this technology to reach citizens,” Costa said. “The call will be held in the evening so we can engage those who are not able to come to our offices or call during normal business hours.”
Participate in Telephone Townhall
To participate live in the Teletown Hall, constituents need only answer a telephone call at 7:05 p.m. to their home. Those who respond to the call will be instructed on how to interact with Costa live.
More information is available on Costa’s website at www.senatorcosta.com. The website contains a form where individuals can sign up to ensure participation and submit questions before the event begins.
For more information, call Costa’s local district offices in Forest Hills (412) 241-6690, Homestead (412) 462-4204 or Carrick (412) 884-8308.
Contact: Stacey Witalec
Telephone: 717 877-2997
Email: switalec@pasenate.com
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