City Senators Unhappy About Budget

Philadelphia’s State Senators are of one mind when voicing their opinions following the Republican-controlled Senate’s passage of State Budget legislation.

State Sen. LeAnna Washington called the approval of SB 1466 by a vote of 38-9 “because this budget plan made less than half of the restorations we need to make Pennsylvania whole again. And half is not enough. Yet again, we are presented with a budget that continues to forsake our children, hardworking families, and the poor. Although this bill makes some important restorations, it does not do enough to help Pennsylvania recover and prosper.”

Democrat Whip State Sen. Anthony H. Williams stated, “There had been some fanfare about reversing a few of the draconian cuts to the budget, particularly along the lines of education. But whether you’re getting punched in the face or in the gut, you’re still being punched. “Believe me – I’m all in favor of reinstituting more, in terms of what we lost. But rather than dying rapidly, we’ll be dying slowly under this budget, because restoring $517 million to a $26 billion budget is like a pimple on a butt in terms of real impact.”

State Sen. Larry Farnese said the bill “makes significant restorations to education, county human-service programs, the Accountability Block Grant, early learning programs and libraries. But this budget needs to do more for communities, families and children. The Republicans refused to restore cuts to everything from cancer screening to child-care services, and they wouldn’t restore funds for AdultBasic Health Insurance, the General Assistance transition grants and charter-school funding, which would do so much for the School District of Philadelphia’s bottom line.”

State Sen. Christine M . Tartaglione praised the thousands of civic activists, educators and social-service providers who traveled to Harrisburg over the past two months for helping Senate Democrats force changes in state budget priorities. “The budget framework passed in the Senate still falls short of meeting the goals of job creation and protecting vulnerable families,” she said. “But it’s a sign that people are being heard. The $27.7 billion spending plan proposed by Senate Republicans restores $500 million of the cuts proposed by Gov. Tom Corbett, but still leaves many working families without access to affordable child care or health insurance.”

Tartaglione, who sits on the Senate Appropriations Committee, said the proposal represented a positive shift in the budget debate as Senate Democrats were given an opportunity to provide significant input about their ideas and priorities.

Majority Republicans rejected a series of Democratic amendments that would have used available revenue to restore additional amounts for cash assistance, adultBasic, human services, Accountability Block Grants and child-care services.

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