May 5, 2022 – Senator Jay Costa, State Senate Democratic Leader, and Senator Vincent Hughes, Democratic Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, issued the following statements in response to Governor Wolf’s announcement on historic state revenues in April and the 2022 fiscal year.
While State Republicans have expressed disinterest in using excess budget to fund tax cuts and education funding, saying they’d prefer to put the money in the commonwealth’s Rainy Day Fund, Sen. Costa and Sen. Hughes are calling for historic investments to help PA families and address issues Republicans have ignored for far too long.
Senator Jay Costa:
“Pennsylvania has $2.8 billion sitting in the Rainy Day Fund and $2.2 billion in unspent American Rescue Plan funds sitting in the State Treasury. And by June 30, it’s estimated that we will have almost $9 billion in extra revenue on hand. That’s billions of dollars that can be used to make generational investments in education that could allow local school districts to lower property taxes and a cut to the Corporate Net Income Tax to bolster businesses.
I hear my Republican colleagues say it would be fiscally irresponsible to use this money to better the lives of Pennsylvanians. They’ve said these funds would be better saved for a rainy day. That’s not entirely true- Republicans are laying out a false choice. We can do both! We can use the surplus budget to better schools for both students and teachers. We can use these extra funds to cut taxes for businesses, making it more viable for companies to thrive in the commonwealth and attractive for both large and small businesses to set up shop in Pennsylvania. We can put the money we have, right now, into the pockets of Pennsylvanians. We can spend a portion of the money for these investments and still have billions for the Rainy Day Fund.
As we start to enter budget negotiations, I’d ask state Republicans to explain why we wouldn’t take advantage of this win-win scenario. In my opinion, we can’t afford not to.”
Senator Vincent Hughes:
“We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to invest in Pennsylvania and put money back into the pockets of taxpayers.
I’ve looked at current revenue, projections for the rest of the year, and forecasts for years to come, and I’m energized about the strong financial foundation we’ve built. I’m excited to see Pennsylvania have such a strong financial footing, but I’m more excited to have the opportunity to make a real difference in the lives of Pennsylvanians. We have billions already in our Rainy Day Fund and billions available to invest in toxic schools, cut school property tax, fund anti-violence programs, cut business taxes, make investments in higher education and efforts to cut student loan debt, build more housing to increase inventory and lower overall home costs, and put $2,000 in people’s pockets. There are so many possibilities!
One of our biggest responsibilities as lawmakers is to use taxpayer money wisely and to the benefit of the taxpayers. Yet, budget negotiations haven’t even started yet and I’m hearing from Republicans it would be irresponsible to invest this money in the people. How about: it’s irresponsible to hoard the money.
The beauty of our current fiscal situation is we can make investments that will have real effects on the lives of Pennsylvanians and maintain a strong Rainy Day fund. We can do both! Let’s not play politics at a time when there are so many ways we can impact our taxpayers, our hardworking constituents who deserve to be priority number one as we negotiate next year’s budget.
To my Republican colleagues, this does not need to be a bipartisan issue. Let’s agree to put the people first and responsibly allocate funds. We can do both, all we need are willing partners.”
Total General Fund collections for this fiscal year so far come to $40.7 billion for the Commonwealth, which is 12.4% percent higher than projected. In addition, Pennsylvania revenue collections have met or exceeded estimates for 15 months in a row. And over the past seven years, revenues have grown steadily by $1.3 billion to $1.4 billion a year. Forecasts from nationally recognized economic forecasting firms Moody’s Analytics and HIS Markit project continued, steady revenue growth for the commonwealth over the coming years.
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HARRISBURG — February 3, 2021 — Pennsylvania Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa (D-Allegheny) and Democratic Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee Vincent Hughes (D-Philadelphia/Montgomery) jointly responded to Gov. Tom Wolf’s 2021-22 Budget Address with a statement Wednesday afternoon.
The senators expressed support for the broad goals and the priorities announced in the $37.84 billion proposal, adding that the proposal is a good starting point to finding long-term solutions to Pennsylvania’s structural deficit. Sens. Costa and Hughes praised the proposal’s emphasis on raising the minimum wage, increasing funding for basic education with greater focus on equity, as well as reducing taxes on low-and middle-income families.
“There are some laudable goals outlined here by our governor and many of the investments reflect requests we have seen from constituents across the state,” Sen. Costa said. “Our schools need increased funding, local governments need more assistance to handle COVID 19, and the workforce development programs proposed have the potential to get many Pennsylvanians back on the job. This is a good starting point, and we look forward to the budget hearing process and negotiations with our colleagues across the aisle and in the House to get a final budget that funds critical programs and meets our needs in this unique time.”
The proposed budget would maintain funding for human services and higher education, while also increasing funding for environmental initiatives, infrastructure repairs and improvements, and workforce development efforts across the commonwealth. Other areas of priority in the budget proposal include bolstering the commonwealth’s inventory essential health supplies and $8.5 million for four city and six county health departments to help fight and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The governor’s proposal to finally and immediately deal with the issue of equal funding of our K-12 schools, is welcome and deserves broad based support, especially since he makes sure that no student is penalized for this aggressive commitment to equity and adequacy,” Sen Hughes said. “His $1 billion commitment to clean and repair broken and toxic schools, along with his commitment to free and affordable college for Pennsylvania students are welcome policy goals that the Senate Democratic Caucus has long championed. And his desire to do all of this in a way that reduces taxes on low- and middle-income families is certainly the right way to go. This is a good direction, and we welcome the introduction of these significant policy goals as the first step in the upcoming budget and policy conversation.”
The senators believe it is critical the General Assembly develops solutions to the structural deficits the Commonwealth has faced for the past 10 years and failed to address because of a lack of cooperation from Republicans in the House and Senate. Additionally, it is still not clear what the state can expect from the federal government with regard to COVID relief packages.
The Senate Democratic caucus is most encouraged by investments in the following programs for the 2021-22 budget include:
Basic Education:
- Full funding of public schools through the Fair Funding Formula
- $1.35 billion increase to basic education funding
- $1 billion in Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP) grants to address school infrastructure needs in PA
- $200 million for special education
- Releases up to $36 million for additional scholarship to students under the Education Improvement Tax Credit and Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit Programs)
- $25 million for Pre-K Counts
- $11 million increase for Early intervention programs
- $5 million for the Head Start Supplemental Program
- Charter School reform for $229 million in savings to school districts
- Sets cyber charter tuition rates at $9,500 per student
- Push for $45,000 minimum salary per year for teachers
Higher Education:
- $199 million for free and affordable college through the Nellie Bly Tuition Program
- Level funding for higher education
Workforce Development:
- Proposes minimum wage increase to $12 per hour on July 1, 2021, with a path to $15 per hour
- Tax deductions for low- and middle-income families
- Provide $3 billion to workers and businesses to stabilize the economy and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic through the Back to Work PA plan
- Improves food security and supports farmers by investing $1 million in the Pennsylvania Agriculture Surplus System (PASS)
Human Services:
- Directs $87 million in federal funding to Child Care Works base rates and create a more stable business environment for child care facilities while improving equal access to child care services
- $8.3 million to help county and municipal health departments fight COVID-19
- 13.8 million to provide home and community-based services to 100 individuals with disabilities on waiting list and provide services through the Community Living Waiver to 732 individuals on waiting list
- Additional $1 million to fund legal services for low-income individuals and families, an issue the caucus has pushed for and will continue to fight for in future budgets
- $1.25 million for 20 Community Hospital Integration Projects Program (CHIPP) to help reduce state hospital populations
- $1 million to reduce the number of children and youth in out-of-home placements triggered by homelessness, housing instability, or inadequate housing
Budget hearings are set to begin in March. For more information on the 2021-21 Budget, visit PASenate.com/budget.
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Pledges to Continue the Fight in the Legislature
Harrisburg, Pa. − October 3, 2019 − Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa, Jr. applauded Governor Tom Wolf’s move today to instruct the PA Department of Environmental Protection to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI).
RGGI is a market-based collaboration among nine Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and combat climate change while generating economic growth.
“Today’s executive order is a strong display of leadership from the Governor on one of the most serious issues facing Pennsylvania, this nation, and the world,” said Senator Costa. “Leadership from the federal government is not coming on climate change, and we can’t afford to wait.”
“I introduced Senate Bill 15 as a legislative option for Pennsylvania to join RGGI, and I’ll continue to push for that,” Senator Costa continued. “I stand with Governor Wolf and all champions for clean air as we work together to find creative, forward-thinking solutions for Pennsylvania.”
RGGI states set a cap on total CO2 emissions from electric power generators in their states. The program is often referred to as “Cap and Trade,” or “Cap and Invest.”
The states currently in RGGI (Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont) have reduced power sector CO2 pollution by 45 percent since 2005, while the region’s per-capita GDP has continued to grow.
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Harrisburg, Pa. − August 1, 2019 − Today, Democratic members from the Pennsylvania House and Senate are asking Governor Tom Wolf to declare a state of emergency to address the needs created by the elimination of the state’s General Assistance program.
General Assistance was terminated, effective August 1st and there are no state resources lined up to fill the gaps that this will leave. Eleven thousand Pennsylvanians, representing every county in this state, will no longer receive roughly $200 per month that they had been using to cover the costs of utilities, transportation, health care, and toiletries, as they wait for more permanent assistance programs or work toward self-sufficiency.
In their letter to Governor Wolf, elected officials wrote:
The value of the GA program was the flexibility it offered to people that were desperately in need of basic resources. Housing, healthcare co-payments, transportation access, toiletries, and much more could be attained though the cash assistance. But it also makes putting the puzzle back together for how to help the individuals even more difficult. Each of these services is provided by a different agency or level of government. The opportunity provided by an emergency declaration is an organized response for data collection, data sharing, program coordination, and resource direction that does not exist in the daily operation of state government. Data sharing alone has been a major hurdle for reaching out and coordinating a response.
Much more will need to be done to assist soon-to-be former GA recipients in getting the assistance they need to keep their lives in order. We have heard story after story about how the GA program has lifted people out of poverty and turned their lives around. It has kept people in homes, provided life saving healthcare, or transportation to get people access to care. We need to find a way to continue to help these people and an emergency declaration will help get the right people to the table for coordinating the response. The opioid emergency declaration has proven your success in this approach and can be replicated here.
Download the full letter here →
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Harrisburg, Pa. − June 24, 2019 − Members of the Pennsylvania Senate Democratic Caucus today jointly sent a letter to Governor Tom Wolf requesting a disaster declaration for gun violence in the Commonwealth.
“We believe it is necessary to raise the public’s awareness of the massive loss of human life and the suffering inflicted on affected family, friends and neighbors where this tragedy is unfolding daily,” they wrote. “Just as you have signed six disaster declarations to provide every tool at the Commonwealth’s disposal to combat the opioid epidemic, the death toll and impact from illegal guns should merit immediate and coordinated attention.”
Specifically, a disaster declaration could do the following:
- Establish a task force led by the Department of Health to create and implement a public health framework for addressing gun violence
- Establish a command center in the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency to coordinate state and local law enforcement response
- Enhance the Joint-Local State Firearm Taskforce through additional personnel and funding to take illegal guns off the street
- Expand information gathering and sharing between all levels of law enforcement and community groups
- Increase law enforcement presence, both local and state, in targeted areas where gun violence is most prevalent
- Expedite and expand grants and other funding sources for community groups and nonprofit associations with a proven record of violence reduction and prevention
- Provide additional state resources for behavioral and mental health
- Bringing to bear the significant wealth of knowledge and experience in the Departments of Health and Human Services to provide de-escalation and de-confliction training throughout the community
- Require the Pennsylvania Department of Education provide training and professional development on trauma-informed education
View full letter →
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