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Budget Breakthrough
On Tuesday, the House of Representatives
resoundingly rejected the Republican
budget
plan that we have warned would
spell disaster for schools, hospitals
and our economy.
The vote was 150-49, meaning that dozens
of Republicans in the House have heard
loud and clear from education and
health-care professionals that the
budget they once supported would mean
local property tax increases, job losses
and hospital closings. The
vote is a repudiation of drastic cuts to
our most vulnerable citizens, and marks
a breakthrough in the three-week-old
budget stalemate.
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"Real people are impacted
by the decisions we make
here in the Senate...are we
not our brother's keeper?" |
I want to congratulate everyone who
helped spread the word about this
calamitous budget plan, and I urge you
to continue to let your voices be heard
to your elected officials that
Pennsylvania must take steps to protect
our economy and uphold its
constitutional responsibility toward
education.
The House passed a better version of the
budget last week (House Bill 1416), but
Republicans in the Senate amended the
bill to make it look very similar to
their short-sighted Senate Bill 850.
The vote on Tuesday means that the House
“non-concurred” on the Senate
amendments, and Senate Republicans are
expected this Monday to “insist” on
these amendments. That action will pave
the way for the appointment of a
“Conference Committee” to work out a
final budget plan. Under state law, the
Conference Committee will have to
produce a version of the budget that
must be voted up or down by both the
House and the Senate. No amendments will
be permitted.
There appears to be some light at
the end of the tunnel on this budget
impasse. Hopefully with the recent
action of this past week we can move
aggressively to get a budget done
that is quick, gets state workers
paid, minimizes the cuts, and has
little to no impact on the pockets
of PA's citizens.
Still, that doesn't mean that it is time
to relax.
Over the next week,
negotiators will be sitting down to
hammer out the details, and your message
that support for schools and hospitals
is strong and unwavering. Thousands of
jobs, access to health care, safe and
efficient schools and local tax
stability are still at risk.
Please continue to draw attention to the
disaster that could result from
short-sighted, ill-timed budget cuts.
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