Senate, House Democrats Question Corbett Budget Assertions, Unveil Fact Check Website

Harrisburg – February 20, 2014 – Senate and House Democrats said today that Gov. Tom Corbett’s budget speech and follow up opinion pieces and interviews have painted a picture of Pennsylvania that is blurry, inaccurate and badly in need of correction.

logoSenate Democratic Leader Jay Costa (D-Allegheny), Sen. Vincent J. Hughes (D-Philadelphia) Democratic chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and House Democratic Policy Chair Rep. Mike Sturla (D-Lancaster) were joined by other Senate and House Democrats to raise questions about assertions made by the governor and to unveil a new fact-check website.

“The governor’s claim that ‘Pennsylvania has turned a corner’ and is ‘now ready to hit full economic stride’ is a distortion that is in need of correction,” Costa said. “Under this governor, Pennsylvania has not turned the corner on job creation, education, health care or budget management. We just keep going down a one-way street the wrong way.

“I am concerned about the view from the governor’s office because it is not the same as what most Pennsylvania families are seeing.”

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Given the governor’s slanted view of the problems that face Pennsylvania, Democrats said that it was important that citizens can access objective information. That’s why they have produced a new website where the governor’s claims can be reviewed. The website can be found at www.checkthefactsgovcorbett.com.

“The governor has made job, deficit, health-care and education claims that are distorted,” Hughes said. “The citizens of Pennsylvania need an honest appraisal of the problems that we face and a roadmap that takes us in a new direction.”

“In his employment claims, Governor Corbett fails to mention the 20,000 education jobs lost, the health care jobs that would be created under Medicaid expansion, and that our college grads are fleeing PA for jobs created in our neighboring states all while our unemployment rate is consistently above the national rate.” Sturla said. “He continues to throw money at defending the Tea Party backed policies he’s championed.”

Specifically the Democrats questioned the governor’s assertion that 150,000 private-sector jobs were created. They said that he fails to acknowledge that Pennsylvania has a 180,000 jobs deficit relative to federal economic growth and we’ve moved from seventh to 48th in job creation since Corbett took office.

The Senate Democrats also disputed the governor’s claim that he has invested in education.

“Since the governor took office, he cut $1 billion from education, failed to increase the basic subsidy, treated less affluent districts poorly and ended a long-term funding equity plan that would have rectified funding disparities,” Costa said. “The governor’s new-found election year desire to invest in education cannot overcome the massive problems he caused for schools and taxpayers.”

Hughes said that Corbett has also failed to fully explain his unconscionable decision to by-pass Medicaid expansion and instead is rely on a problematic private insurance-based health care proposal.

The West Philadelphia lawmaker said that the governor’s failure to expand Medicaid “costs $400 million, prevents 500,000 Pennsylvanians from accessing health care and keeps 35,000 from job opportunities.”

Hughes also questioned the governor’s budget balancing saying that “the governor used one-time gimmicks, an inflated growth rate and policy tricks that add billions to the unfunded pension liability to make the $1.2 billion deficit disappear.”

Costa said that many states are examining ways of investing or returning budget surpluses this year and are still not dealing with fiscal despair.

“For the fourth year in a row, under this governor, we’ve had to struggle with revenues because we have not created an environment that is conducive to economic development and job creation,” Costa said. “Many of our surrounding states have invested wisely, grown their economies and regained their fiscal health, while we have been stuck in reverse and going the wrong direction.”

The Democrats said that the narrative that the governor has been pitching across the state since his budget address is an election-year ploy to cover a four-year record of failed economic, job, health and budget initiatives.

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Senate Democrats Call for Quickening the Pace of Reform at PSU

HARRISBURG – June 26, 2013 – At a Capitol news conference, Sens. Jay Costa (D-Allegheny), John Yudichak (D-Luzerne), Andy Dinniman (D-Chester) and Rob Teplitz (D-Dauphin) called for a more rapid pace of reform of the governing structure at Penn State and said the General Assembly has a role to play in ensuring that appropriate changes are made quickly.

The lawmakers are calling for hearings to be held over the summer leading to speedy consideration of comprehensive reform legislation in the fall.

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Yudichak, who has been a longtime advocate of board reforms, but a critic of the pace and depth of the modifications made thus far by the Penn State board, said it is important for taxpayers to understand that Penn State is accountable and that the General Assembly can force systemic changes in the university’s governing structure.

Teplitz, who formerly served as chief counsel and policy director to Auditor General Jack Wagner, helped prepare a comprehensive report on the governing structure at Penn State. He noted that few of the recommendations have been implemented.

According to State Sen. Andy Dinniman (D-Chester), Penn State’s Board of Trustees has enacted mild reforms, but needs to do more. Dinniman has introduced SB 410, which would make specific changes to Penn State’s governance structure including reducing the board’s size, implementing term limits for board members and limiting the university president’s role among other things. Another bill that Dinniman authored, SB 408, would expand the Ethics Act to cover board members of state-related universities.

“As an alumnus I am very proud of Penn State and want to ensure that it maintains its world-class status,” Dinniman said.

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$ 300 Million Education Common Core Mandate Threatens Graduation

No Legislative Oversight, Lack of Financial Backing Panned by Senate Democrats

Harrisburg, May 13, 2013 – A new unfunded education mandate now being quietly pursued by the Corbett administration will soon saddle school districts with a $300 million expense and threaten graduation for thousands of students across Pennsylvania, Senate Democrats said today at a Capitol news conference.

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Sen. Andrew Dinniman (D-Chester) Democratic chair of the Senate Education Committee, Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa (D-Allegheny), Sens. Judy Schwank, John Blake and Jim Brewster all expressed their displeasure and concerns about the proposed changes.

“We are not opposed to the implementation of Common Core standards for Pennsylvania’s students,” Dinniman said. “But we are opposed to Common Core standards without adequate state financial resources for our schools so that all of our students have the opportunity to succeed under those standards, including those in financially distressed school districts.

“For the Commonwealth to increase standards without the adequate fiscal resources is a charade. It is a sham that will only lead to false hope,” Dinniman said.

Common Core standards are being sought by the state Department of Education as a way to determine proficiency and graduation eligibility.

According to Dinniman, the implementation of Common Core standards will result in an unfunded mandate of at least $300 million for local schools. There is no specified funding or plan to provide for the remedial instruction, the redesign of curriculum, or the project-based assessments for those who repeatedly fail the tests.

“The implementation of these new standards should be reviewed thoroughly by the General Assembly,” Costa said. “This whole new testing structure will cost taxpayers dearly and it is being implemented without a full understanding of the benefits for students, teachers, administrators and taxpayers.

“A complete explanation of what is being sought by the department is necessary before Pennsylvania schools put these new standards into play.”

Schwank, who represents the economically and academically struggling Reading School District, said the new testing will be particularly devastating to fiscally challenged schools.

“School districts like Reading, as well as many others around the state, are drowning in red ink now,” Schwank said. “These new mandates, without proper fiscal support, will make their financial plight even worse.

“There is certainly nothing wrong with increasing proficiency standards but students, teachers and schools must have resources to invest to address deficiencies.”

To implement new standards and testing procedures without adding dollars makes no sense, Blake (D-Lackawanna) noted. Especially, he said, after the Corbett administration has slashed basic education support by $900 million.

“To add new core testing procedures and a mandate at a cost exceeding $300 million after cutting education support is irresponsible,” Blake said. “The local property taxpayer is going to get squeezed and economically strapped schools and taxpayers will bear an even greater burden.”

Brewster said instead of implementing more tests and costs, educators and the Corbett administration need to step back and decide whether the current testing structure is constructive. He has proposed Senate Bill 823 to create a bi-partisan commission to recommend changes or a total scrapping of the current student testing procedures.

“My belief is we need to look at what we are doing with student testing and come up with a new, better approach that accurately reflects student, school, teacher and community performance,” Brewster said. “Today’s tests are flawed and the whole system is need of restructuring.”

Senate Democrats also lamented that the new Common Core tests involve 10 days of testing, which takes even more time away from traditional instruction.

They added that districts could receive a deeper financial bludgeoning if students fail to pass the tests.

The new Common Core standards will exacerbate the problem of teaching to the test, Senate Democrats said.