Sep 8, 2011 2 min read

State Rep. Deberah Kula, D-North Union Township, will co-host a public hearing with the House Democratic Policy Committee to determine how 2011-12 state budget cuts are impacting southwestern Pennsylvania communities.

The hearing will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday in the Community Center Magerko Auditorium, Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus, in Uniontown.

Kula voted against this year’s state budget and predicted it would lead to higher property and municipal taxes, health-care costs and tuition rates because it cut state funding for basic and higher education, human services programs, and did nothing to address burgeoning local infrastructure needs.

She said she requested the hearing to solicit testimony from local government officials, school districts and hospitals on how the cuts have impacted their operations.

“This budget singled out programs that directly benefited working families and their children, seniors and the sick, while once again multimillion-dollar corporations and gas companies got a free pass,” Kula said.

“It put all of the state’s fiscal pain on those who could least afford it. We must find out what the fallout has been from this budget, how it has affected local municipalities, businesses and residents, and what we can do to alleviate some of this pain.”