Harrisburg, April 17, 2013 – Senate Democrats’ 2013-14 budget priorities are heavily weighted toward job creation, education investments, strengthening the social-services safety net, modernizing liquor sales and refocusing Pennsylvania’s business tax menu to help small businesses, they announced today at a Capitol news conference.
Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa (D-Allegheny) said that Senate Democrats will go into this year’s budget negotiations with a clear purpose and “are resolved that the state’s economy must be jump-started. New jobs must be created and we have to reverse the negative course that the Corbett administration has plotted for Pennsylvania on education and protecting our most vulnerable.”
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“We have an opportunity and a responsibility to seek new investments and use resources that are available to change policy direction during this year’s budget negotiations.”
Costa said Senate Democrats believe that more than 120,000 jobs can be created quickly by enacting a responsible transportation plan, expanding Medicaid and using economic development policies outlined in their PA Works plan.
Costa was joined by a host of Senate Democrats in making today’s announcement.
Sen. Vincent Hughes, who serves as the Democratic chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said that by taking action now on key economic initiatives then restoring job creation and community programs to their past luster — before Corbett budgets sliced them to the core — is an excellent starting point.
“We need to start creating jobs right now and we can do that by working on transportation and Medicaid expansion,” Hughes (D-Philadelphia/Montgomery) said. “These initiatives coupled with rebuilding water and sewer systems, investing in schools and new technologies will create economic growth immediately.
“In addition, by investing in programs such as Main Street, Elm Street and international business we can help small business here while they market their products abroad.,”
Democratic Whip Sen. Tony Williams (D-Philadelphia/Delaware) said that the caucus was turning up the heat on the Corbett administration on jobs, health care, education and social safety net issues because the governor has failed to lead.
“We’ve outlined reasonable strategic policy alternatives that will reverse direction and provide a new path and we’ve identified revenues that will pay for the proposed expenditures,” Williams said. “Pennsylvania is rudderless on job creation and our economic numbers and business indicators under this administration illustrate the problem.
“Our most vulnerable can also not withstand another senseless round of Corbett cuts and we have to restore programs that promote help for those in need.”
Williams said that Pennsylvania is now 43rd in job creation, falling from eighth place among all states under Gov. Ed Rendell’s leadership. Plus, he said, last month’s unemployment claims fell nationally to below 350,000 but, because of Corbett policy short-sightedness, Pennsylvania led the country in new unemployment claims.
Senate Democrats said that they have laid out specific plans to achieve results in the 2013-14 budget in five areas. These include: strategic investments to create jobs; improving education; repositioning business taxes while closing business tax loopholes; modernizing the wine and spirits stores; and repairing and protecting social safety net programs.
The caucus leaders said that they’ve noted at least $750 million in annual savings, plus another $150 million in one-time revenues. They also said that we need to find resources to pay for specific new expenditures including $225 million for basic education, $50 million to aid distressed cities and communities, $40 million for transitional housing and homeownership among other items, and funds for new tax credits for a variety of areas including film production.
Democrats said that priority details include a three-year phase in of new monies to restore education dollars and key student-performance based initiatives that were cut by the Corbett administration in the last two budgets.
They also said that they would emphasize rebuilding struggling communities through their Growth, Progress and Sustainability (GPS) plan; seek new funds for transitional housing and new homeownership opportunities; and push for modernizing the wine and spirits stores rather than the opt for the risky privatization scheme that has been sought by the Corbett administration.
The Democrats indicated that they expected the negotiations to become more focused once the Senate returns to session in late April.
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Costa, Hughes prod Corbett to act
Harrisburg, March 28, 2013 – Two top Democratic state Senators who have been urging the Corbett administration to expand Medicaid said the governor should pay attention to a new, detailed study commissioned by The Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania (HAP) that shows the advantages of enrolling more Pennsylvanians in Medicaid.
Sen. Jay Costa (D-Allegheny), the Senate Democratic leader, and Senate Democratic Appropriations Chair Sen. Vincent J. Hughes (D-Philadelphia/Montgomery) said the study underscores the arguments they and their colleagues have been making: expanding Medicaid makes fiscal, political and moral sense.
“The evidence is clear that expanding Medicaid will help hundreds of thousands gain access to health care, save the state money, bolster the economy, create jobs and not cost the Corbett administration a dime,” Costa said. “The governor needs to weigh the evidence and do the math and expand Medicaid.”
Hughes, along with his Democratic colleagues on the appropriations committee, recently held a hearing on the issue in Pittsburgh and a roundtable discussion in Philadelphia to highlight the need for the expansion. Senate Democrats have introduced Senate Bill 12 which would compel Pennsylvania to participate in the expansion.
“The HAP study is conclusive that Medicaid expansion will deliver $2.2 billion to $2.5 billion in annual federal payments to Pennsylvania, generate more than $3.2 billion in economic activity and support more than 35,000 jobs,” Hughes said. “Most importantly, the study says 350,000 low-income, non-elderly Pennsylvanians would gain health insurance.”
The HAP study said Medicaid expansion will cost Pennsylvania $1.64 billion. However, $1.46 billion will be generated by gross receipts taxes and another $270 million will be generated from personal income taxes on jobs supported by the expansion. The revenue exceeds the costs by $90 million.
The proposed Medicaid expansion would cover individuals whose incomes are at or below 138 percent of the federal poverty level. The federal Affordable Care Act (ACA) included the expansion as a part of the coverage menu but was challenged in court.
The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the ACA in its June 2012 decision but said states could decide on their own if they wanted to opt in to the expansion of Medicaid.
“We need to move aggressively in implementing provisions of the ACA so that we can help those who desperately need health care,” Hughes said. “The Corbett administration has been slow to come around to what we’ve been saying about the advantages of participating in the expansion of Medicaid.
“A small legion of Republican governors – including those from surrounding states and others who have far-right philosophies – have already said they will lead their states in helping more of their residents by expanding Medicaid. We need Gov. Corbett to take a good look at this study and lead.”
The HAP study says the enrollment of 350,000 more Pennsylvanians in Medicaid will drop the uninsured rate from 12.7 percent to 8.1 percent, and then 4.8 percent in 2016 when the non-compliance penalties of the ACA take effect.
“There is no question the HAP study shows there is significant upside to Pennsylvania’s participation in Medicaid expansion and very little downside,” Costa said. “The governor needs to understand we have a great opportunity and that expanding Medicaid is the right thing to do.”
The senators said that the HAP report only looked at economic benefits of the Gross Receipts Tax and the Personal Income Tax. It did not examine additional spinoff economic benefits or savings from offsets of state-funded programs that would result from the expansion.
A broader analysis by the Senate Democratic caucus concluded that 650,000 Pennsylvanians would gain access to health insurance through the Medicaid expansion, $670 million in new revenues would be generated, and $4 billion in federal monies would be leveraged.
The HAP report, “The Economic Impact of Medicaid Expansion on Pennsylvania,” was conducted by RAND Health, which is a research unit affiliated with the RAND Corporation.
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HARRISBURG, May 1, 2012 –Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa and Senate Democratic Appropriations Chair Vincent Hughes offered the following comments regarding today’s Independent Fiscal Office (IFO) Revenue Estimate Report, which stated that the projected shortfall will be $300 million, not $719 million as reported by the governor during his budget presentation earlier this year.
Sen. Jay Costa:
“The Independent Fiscal Office release of its independent preliminary estimate of the fiscal condition of Pennsylvania confirms what Senate Democrats have predicted since the governor made his budget presentation in February. The governor’s estimated deficit of more than $700 million was way off target.
There now is no question that there will be far more available dollars to restore key budget lines that support job creation, education, safety net programs and investments for the future.
Funds are tight and resources must be stretched. However, it is clear that the administration does not need to cut so deeply into social safety net programs, education and human services that impact so many.”
Sen. Vincent Hughes:
“For a second year, the governor has miscalculated the revenues. The Independent Fiscal Office has reinforced what Senate Democrats have argued for months. There is additional funding available, by IFO estimates, of more than $800 million.
With April’s revenue collections reducing our current shortfall to below $289 million, the likelihood is that our yearend shortfall could be below $200 million, providing even more state revenue.
Instead of providing false choices – pitting seniors against students – we have the option to do so much more – restore education, protect our social safety net programs and tackle our number one priority – job creation.
The devastating cuts that the governor has proposed should be set aside and a new fiscal plan developed that is reconciled with the new revenues. Pennsylvania can move forward if it moves away from the governor’s fuzzy budget numbers based on rhetoric not arithmetic.”
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