07/05/08 — Crawford County’s four legislators split their vote on support of the state’s 2008-09 budget, which was approved Friday afternoon and sent to the governor for signature.

Republican state Sen. Bob Robbins and Republican state Rep. John Evans both voted yes.

However, Republican Michele Brooks and Republican Brad Roae were both no votes.

Robbins and Evans both were especially pleased that the budget contained no new taxes or fees and the Rainy Day Fund was kept intact — despite proposals by the governor to use some of it for the budget.

All four were pleased that the budget included 3 percent increases for school districts — double what the governor had proposed.

“It was a tough budget, but it held the line on taxes and fees,” said Robbins about his vote. “There were some tough decisions. Obviously some people won’t be as happy as they would have liked.”

His concern was the economic situation. He said the state “did a very tough budget last year, but it kept us in a better position than with state’s around us,” he said, referring to the fact that some have deficit spending. “Looking forward to next year, it will be the same,” Robbins predicted, saying the state will be in the same situation next year until something changes.

Concerning other programs, he said the funding was held steady or decreased. “We will try to work on (funding for) those programs and get them back (funding),” he concluded.

Evans also hailed the passage of legislation and funding for infrastructure projects, including those making upgrades to water and sewerage systems. Senate Bill 2 calls for $800 million for water or sewer, storm water, flood protection and dam safety projects. The funds will be derived from the fund within the Gaming Act that designates money for economic development.

He also is pleased that the budget comes in under the rate of inflation at 3.98 percent.

“With state revenues taking a slight dip in the past couple of months and the national economy struggling, we knew we had to keep spending in check and not saddle our residents with any unnecessary tax increases,” Evans said.

Brooks cited several flaws that she believes could have serious ramifications in future years.

Although the budget increased funds for schools, she said programs important to the people of the 17th District have been cut or altered in a way that may have long-term consequences.

Both she and Roae voiced concerns that the budget only calls for 11 months of payments for Medical Assistance managed care programs —meaning the 12th month will be rolled into the next year’s fiscal budget.

In addition, Brooks is concerned about the commonwealth’s financial health during the next year. Revenues for 2008-09 have been projected at a 3 percent growth level, even with the 2007-08 growth recording just a 1.7 percent increase.

The new budget package contains nearly $3 billion in borrowing, representing an ultimate payback of close to $4.5 billion, she said.

“This may be one of the largest authorized borrowing plans in the state's history,” Brooks continued. “Although many of the projects to be financed with bond issues have merit, I think the state could have leveraged its resources more wisely this past year instead of spending $1.2 billion for a new soccer stadium near Philadelphia, a new hockey arena in Pittsburgh and convention center upgrades in Philadelphia. That money could have gone to needed projects like infrastructure improvements and energy strategies which would help decrease costs for the hard-working families across Pennsylvania.”

“Budgets are not just year-to-year spending plans,” she said. “Decisions we make now affect generations and budgets for years to come. We need to keep an eye on the long term, not just the 12 months ahead of us. If we don't, our residents could be saddled with tax increases in future years.”

“I could not support an irresponsible budget that has a potential $1 billion deficit,” said Roae, whose Sixth District includes Meadville and northern Crawford County.

He said the “plan assumes the Pennsylvania economy will grow at 3 percent this fiscal year and result in 3 percent higher tax collections. This past fiscal year only saw a 1.7 percent growth in tax revenue.

He said the entire $744 million Rainy Day Fund “may be depleted before the end of the fiscal year. Huge problems, tax increases, and cutbacks in government services could occur within the next several months,” said Roae.

“Subprime mortgages have been in the news a lot recently and I would consider this to be a subprime budget. No business owner, municipality or school district would pass a budget when they know they will run out of money before the end of the fiscal year.”

He said the new budget is cutting things so close, that even if revenue does increase 4 percent this year, there will be only about $5 million not spent at the end of the next fiscal year.

“It would be like planning a household budget for a whole year and only having $1 for unexpected expenses,” he added.

He said the state had “about $115 million of carryover this year for the budget, but would only have $5 million for the 2009-10 budget.

“The related bills we voted on today (Friday) have $2.525 billion in new borrowing and will result in increasing debt service for the next four years,” he said, noting that “will put even more pressure on finding the money to maintain state funding for education, medical assistance payments to hospitals, job training programs and other important government services.”