8/14/2019 Farry Spring 2010 Budget Report

1/2

State Representative

Frank A.

FarryRepFarry.com

142nd Legislative District

BUDGET REPORT2009-10

State Budget ImpasseHighlights Need for Reform

For the seventh year in a row, Pennsylvania began the new fiscal yearwithout a state budget in place. The - budget was not approvedunt ear y cto er, more t an our mont s a ter t e ega y man atedeadline.

The budget plan offered by the governor and House Democrats wouldhave imposed over $9.7 million in additional taxes on you, the residents of

the Neshaminy School District, but school funding would have increasedby only $650,000. I fought hard against this tax increase and againstproposed cuts to important services such as libraries, child care, andhigher education.

State spending has increased from $21 billion to $28 billion over thelast seven years. I firmly believe that state government must live withinits means and that we cannot continue to raise taxes on Pennsylvanians.I understand the need to pass a budget so state government can continueto function, but I could not, in the interest of our taxpayers, support thisu get.

Throughout the - budget negotiations, I heard from many peoplewho were frustrated that the process was taking so long. Many of the callsand e-mails I received were from residents who rely on services funded bythe state budget including state colleges and universities, public schools,and county social services. I share their frustration and I strongly believesomething must be done to ensure that an impasse like the one we sawlast year never happens again.

I have co-sponsored a number of legislative proposals to reform ourbudget process. Among them:

House Bill states that if there is a budget impasse beyond July ,t e prevous year s genera appropr atons act s a ecome aw at a

percent reduction until supplemented by a new budget. House Bill would establish the Emergency State Employee Salary

un to ensure t at state emp oyees w contnue to e pa n t e event o abudget impasse.

I am very interested in your thoughts on how we can improve the budgetmaking process. Please feel free to contact one of my district offices orvisit my Web site at epFarry.com.

2010 House Calendars Not Printed

Due to Budget ConcernsAs state revenues continued to come in below predicted levels, it was more important than ever for state govern-ment to make every effort to get the most value from the funds available. As a result, the decision was made not toprint the publicly distributed 2010 House of Representatives commemorative calendars.

2010-11Rendell Budget

Raises Taxes,Spends Too Much

In February, Gov. Ed Rendell delivereds annua u get a ress to t e eg s a-

ure.

Despite revenues falling $3.25 billionshort of predictions last year and state reve-nues already $374 million below predictionsfor this year, the governor has proposeda u get t at ncreases spen ng an ewants to raise taxes to pay for it.

am part cu ar y concerne a out t egovernors plan to expand the state salesax to a variety of items which had previ-ous y een exempt. e cannot cont nueo increase spending year after year and

expect Pennsylvania families and seniort zens to p c up t e ta .

To balance his spending plan, the gover-nor is also counting on $800 million in federalstimulus funds. It is irresponsible to rely onone-time revenue sources like the stimulusfunds to cover recurring spending. Thosefunds will disappear in - and we willbe left with a large budget hole and no wayo pay for it. It is a better plan to redirect this

funding toward the looming pension crisis.If we are going to avoid huge tax increas-es, we must control our spending now andplan for the future. Families across Penn-sylvania have to make these kind of difficulthoices every day. They should expect the

same from their elected representatives.

370

Lower

8/14/2019 Farry Spring 2010 Budget Report

2/2

Action Required to Ensure Children Are NotHeld Hostage to Budget Negotiations

Visit my Web siteRepFarry.com

DISTRICT OFFICES:

SUITE 102

ANGHORNE, PA 19047

(215) 752-6750

ONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY

9 A.M. TO 5 P.M. AND

BY APPOINTMENT

CAPITOL OFFICE:2B EAST WING

P.O. BOX 202142

HARRISBURG, PA 17120-2142

PHONE: (717) 260-6140

ONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY

A.M. TO 4:30 P.M. AND

BY APPOINTMENT

Office Information

What do you think?I am very interested in your views on the state budget and what we can do to avoid the kind of impasse we saw last year.

Please feel free to contact me at any of my offices with your ideas.

n September, upon learning that Pennsylvania Educa-tion Secretary Gerald Zahorchak was refusing to processtext book orders for non-public school children, including

those in Catholic schools until a state budget was passed,I joined my Republican House and Senate colleagues fromBucks County to urge the secretary to immediately processthe order. About , non-public school children acrossPennsylvania did not have text books when the schoolyear began. Many had to wait until November to receivetheir books. During that time, I stayed in contact with theschool principals to keep them informed of the status of thebooks.

n a letter, Zahorchak claimed the state budget impasseprevented him from processing the orders. However, I be-lieve the needs of our children, particularly when it comes

Neshaminy School DistrictGets State Funding Increase

While I have some concerns about the levels of spending and taxation in the final - budget, I am pleased thatthe plan provided every school district in Pennsylvania with an increase in the basic education subsidy. The chart below

details the subsidies and the . percent increase for Neshaminy School District. Neshaminy received only a percentincrease in - .

to education, cannot be sacrificed while legislative lead-ers bicker over the details of a state budget that was longoverdue.

While you hear certain elected officials talk about theimportance of education, this was an example of a fewpoliticians directly having a negative impact on our children.Situations such as this are unacceptable and should neverbe allowed to happen.

Legislation that would prevent another state budget im-passe like the one suffered last year has been drafted asnoted in the budget reform article in this budget update.

While this solution is not perfect, it would have preventedthe problem that kept text books out of the hands of ,Pennsylvania school children.

SchoolDistrict

Neshaminy

Total 2009-10Funding

$20,606,889

Increase Over2008-09 Basic

EducationFunding

$2,468,728

PercentageIncrease Over2008-09 Basic

EducationFunding

13.6%