State Senate Democrats today decried Gov. Tom Corbett's 2013-14 $28.4 billion General Fund budget as a "false choice" plan because it does little to solve key problems and relies on shaky and faulty premises. "The plan presented by the governor today is disappointing," Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa (D-Allegheny) said. "It was long on politics but short on solutions." In particular, Costa said that he was concerned that the governor has turned to linking one issue with another which he said has been correctly described as Washington D.C. -- style politics which have been rejected by citizens. The governor bases his budget on the passage of controversial measures that he thinks will be approved by the General Assembly. Costa said the governor planned to rely on pension savings and the sale of liquor stores while infusing $200 million into discretionary education spending this year and that was problematic. Costa said it is highly unlikely that his liquor and pension reforms will pass. The governor also did not provide leadership on job creation, leaving Pennsylvania families still struggling to make ends meet, the Democratic leader lamented. "We should not be linking anything to education. Pennsylvania students and taxpayers need the governor to invest in our schools without strings attached," Costa said. "The governor is exporting our Lottery to England and importing Washington-style politics to Harrisburg." The ranking Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, Sen. Vincent J. Hughes (D-Philadelphia/Montgomery) said that, once again, Corbett is moving in the wrong direction on jobs, transportation and education. "We were expecting to hear that the governor was going to lead Pennsylvania in the right direction on jobs, transportation and education by coming forward with solutions," Hughes said. "Instead what he presented was a half-measure plan for transportation, an ill-conceived education proposal and no defined course for job creation." Hughes said the General Assembly will have to work to make the plan responsible. He said that the governor's transportation plan failed to properly invest in highways, bridges and intermodal infrastructure and it "will create a funding crisis in ten years for mass transit because he is seeking to end directed funding without replacement." "What is striking is that Pennsylvania is 34th in job creation, our unemployment rate is 7.9 percent and our transportation needs -- as defined by the governor's own commission -- are nearly double what was proposed today," Hughes said "The governor's plan isn't a responsible effort. We need to move Pennsylvania forward quickly and create jobs now." State Sen. Anthony H. Williams, who serves as the Senate Democratic Whip said the Corbett plan does little to provide much needed leadership on issues that are critically important to working Pennsylvanians. "The governor said that lawmakers don't come to Harrisburg to adapt the status quo. To do that, under this budget, you don't need Band-aids, you need surgery. My question to him is why are we not revolutionizing how we generate revenue so that we can maintain all human conditions across the commonwealth? Simply cutting taxes to entities that he favors doesn't result in economic gain. We need to change our tax policy." "The governor's succeeded in putting on a good show today for the people of Pennsylvania," said Williams. "He can continue to say he's going to enact change but the masses of people in the Capitol building, waiting to stampede the House Chamber over the draconian proposals seem to speak more truth than we heard today." Williams said that the governor's proposal is "nothing more than a hollow budget full of empty commentary." The Democrats said that while the governor touted his plan to infuse more dollars into higher education as a means to control tuition increases, he failed to acknowledge that he created huge fiscal challenges for colleges and universities, parents and students by slashing funding in previous budgets. Another sticking point with Democrats, particularly Hughes, was that the education funding crisis that has enveloped local schools as a result of past Corbett funding priorities. Hughes said that 75 percent of schools have eliminated offerings, more than 15,000 jobs have been lost and tutoring and other critical programs cut back. More than 80 percent of school districts have been forced to raise taxes, Hughes said. The governor's spending plan will now go before the Senate and House Appropriations Committees for budget hearings. The deadline to approve a state budget is June 30.

• published: 06 Feb 2013
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