Local lawmakers blast budget
?State Rep. Bill DeWeese, D-Waynesburg and state Sen. Tim Solobay, D-Eighty-Four, joined their fellow Democratic lawmakers in blasting the budget passed by Republicans in the state legislature last week.
“This is a forlorn day for our commonwealth,” said DeWeese, claiming Democrats were essentially frozen out of the budget process.
DeWeese, who represents all of Greene County plus parts of Fayette and Washington counties, said the budget muscled through by Gov. Tom Corbett and his Republican majorities in both chambers of the Legislature imposes sharp cuts in many areas that will adversely affect middle-class families.
“Had Governor Corbett been less smug and distant during these past few months — if he had invited our Democratic leadership team into the process — this document would have been severely different,” DeWeese said.
Regarding a failure to impose any tax on the multibillion-dollar business of extracting natural gas from the Marcellus shale in the budget, DeWeese said, “It is ironic that just after the Carmichaels Water Authority concluded a boil-water advisory, Republicans are passing a budget that lays off workers at DEP.”
The boil-water advisory was implemented because of algae in the water treatment plant.
DeWeese said such cuts make no sense when the state sits on a $700 million budget surplus.
“This budget is a draconian effort to shackle the progress that was made in the past several years to provide smaller class sizes and successful Pre-K programs for our school districts,” DeWeese said. “It hurts the most vulnerable by cutting programs that provide assistance to those with disabilities and which allow them to remain in their homes.”
The budget passed 109-92 in the House, where Republicans hold a 112-91 majority, and passed 30-20 in the Senate, with all the Republicans in the Senate voting in favor of it and all the Democrats voting against it.
The budget includes a spending reduction of about 3 percent from the 2010-11 spending plan.
The budget was then signed by Gov. Tom Corbett, minutes before the July 1 deadline.
Solobay, who represents all of Greene and Washington counties plus parts of Beaver, Westmoreland and Allegheny counties, said passing such a budget on time is nothing to be proud of.
“It takes a shortcut to the deadline and leaves too much left undone. Passing this budget on time is like showing up for work in your pajamas. Yeah, you’re on time, but maybe you shouldn’t be using the snooze button so much,” Solobay said.
Solobay maintains that the Senate should have gotten to work on this much earlier and taken a view of the big picture.
“The administration spent too much time playing word games with taxes and fees and assessment and such,” Solobay said,
Solobay also lamented that the budget cuts funding to public education and doesn’t close a tax loophole for corporations that could generate additional revenue.
He said when everyone’s school taxes shoot up, and the newly homeless show up in crowded emergency rooms and our counties face service shutdowns this year, he doesn’t want to be the one standing there saying … ‘hey, we got it done on time.’