WASHINGTON: BUDGET FOCUSES ON NEEDY FAMILIES, EDUCATION, ELDERLY

            HARRISBURG, February 6: State Sen. LeAnna Washington (D-Philadelphia/Montgomery) today applauded Gov. Ed Rendell’s 2008-09 budget proposal, which focuses on helping needy families, our children’s education and medical assistance for the elderly.

            The governor’s budget includes an economic stimulus package, called “Protect Our Progress,” in preparation for a potential national economic slowdown. 

            His plan calls for stimulating business expansion and job creation and retention and releasing state funds for public construction development projects. It also proposes providing a one-time rebate of up to $400 per household that would be paid to more than 475,000 lower-income working families across families. These rebates would be borrowed from the Rainy Day Fund and be repaid with surplus funds at the end of the 2007-08 fiscal year.

“So many hard-working residents who are struggling to make it day by day would welcome this rebate,” Washington said. “For many individuals, the money would go toward their immediate needs, which would provide relief to them and boost our economy.”  

The majority — or 88 percent — of the proposed budget $28.3 billion general fund provides funding to education, the Department of Corrections, the Department of Public Welfare and Medical Assistance programs. Rendell’s proposed budget calls for a 40 percent increase in spending in these areas. 

“I’m pleased that the governor has proposed additional funding for early childhood education, funding for our public schools and additional funding going to school districts that serve poor children and those with large numbers of children learning to speak English,” Washington said.

“I would like to see correction dollars directed toward community correction programs for non-violent offenders,” Washington said. “In this way, non-violent offenders can work and take care of themselves.

            The governor’s budget also dispels the myths related to the welfare budget, according to Washington.

“For too long, misinformation has been driving the debate about welfare spending and welfare recipients,” Washington said. “Today, the governor set the record straight. “As he stated, the majority of the Medical Assistance funding goes to an older Pennsylvanian. When they need nursing home care, the state pays. Do we want to suggest that we no longer need to care for the aging population in Pennsylvania, which represents the second largest in the nation and the largest in the nation of people over the age of 85. 

“When the debate begins over welfare spending, we must remember that we are talking predominantly about the elderly and disabled.”