By: Senator Dave Argall
This week, I once again rose before my colleagues in the Senate to voice my concern over the lack of a state budget, noting that in any public policy debate, there are always at least two options:
We can stand by and do nothing; or we can attempt to resolve the problem.
On August 5, 36 days after our budget deadline, our Governor intentionally created a new problem. Despite the fact that bipartisan majorities in this Senate and in the House of Representatives have told him that we believe that now, in the midst of this terrible recession, the worst in many of our lifetimes, is the worst possible time to raise the state’s personal income tax—a tax which is levied not only on millions of individuals, but also on a large number of our small businesses, the Governor disagrees. He wants to raise our taxes, and he’s willing to use any political weapon in his arsenal to get his way.
He is essentially saying, he thinks he knows better than those of you who approach us every day and ask us to hold the line on taxes. To obtain political “leverage” on us, I believe was the Governor’s quote, on August 5th he vetoed the appropriation, agreed to by the House and the Senate, for Education Assistance Grants for college students, as well as a variety of other important programs.
This is a very destructive political game which the Governor has initiated. When the Governor last unleashed this political strategy in 2003, our public school children were left without state funding until December, 6 months beyond the deadline. That is not a model any of us in the Legislature ever, ever, want to repeat, but that is exactly what this Governor, in his final 17 months in office, is attempting to do.
I don’t believe it is at all appropriate that the Governor has attempted to first utilize our state parks as hostages, then tens of thousands of our state employees, and now, our preschool children, our public school students, our public libraries, our college students and people in real need who depend upon our county social service agencies as hostages in order to blackmail us into raising the income tax and a host of other taxes.
On May 6, 55 days before the deadline, this Senate appropriated $386.2 million for PHEAA grants. Here we are today, 49 days beyond the budget deadline, one of only two states in the union to fail to pass a budget, and our college students have not received one dollar from state government . . . despite the fact that every member of this Senate knows that the funding is available for their use. At least, it was available, until the Governor vetoed it.
We have a serious choice before us – we can override the Governor’s power play, his line item veto for education assistance grants to students, or we can do nothing.
Despite all the attempted political spin on this issue by the Governor, our choice is very simple:
Do we stand by and do nothing, or do we attempt to resolve the problem?
Do we appropriate $386.2 million for the purpose of higher education, or do we agree with the Governor, and hold our students as hostages, give them zero dollars, and allow the Governor to continue his efforts to raise the personal income tax and a host of other taxes.
There are two college students in my home, one a freshman, and one a junior. I don’t believe that my son should be held as a budget hostage. I don’t believe that my daughter should be held as a budget hostage. I don’t believe that any of our 165,000 PA college students and their parents should be held as hostages by the Governor for one more day.
That is a very simple choice for me. The people of the six counties I represent have told me, in very specific terms, not to raise their taxes.
Contact: Nick Troutman
(717) 787-2637