Throughout his budget address to a joint session of the state General Assembly, Gov. Corbett reminded lawmakers of what Budget Secretary Charles Zogby called the “historical” economic circumstances in which the state finds itself: with low revenues and ballooning unavoidable expenses together acting like a “pincer,” driving out the rest of the state’s budget items.
“That means we must continue the course bravely charted by this assembly in the year just passed,” said Corbett. “I am submitting to you a budget proposal that is at once lean and demanding.”
The $27.14 billion plan would hold funding about level for both the Department of Education and the Department of Public Welfare.
The glaring reductions, here, are to higher education – 20 percent cuts to the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, and 30 percent cuts to all the state-related schools except for Lincoln University.
For basic education and the Department of Public Welfare, Corbett wants to keep spending about level, but give administrators more choices in how they spend the state funding they do get.
The proposed reductions to higher education have Democratic lawmakers incredulous. And although basic education funding is about the same as it was last year, Democrats say spending must return to pre-Corbett levels, or else local property taxes will rise.
Republican lawmakers say the plan is a responsible one, given that the state is now forecasting a $700 million fiscal year-end deficit.
Corbett also announced his intention to work with the legislature soon to fix the state’s ailing roads and bridges, but he didn’t outline a specific plan.
“This is not a budget item. It’s too large for that,” said the governor. “Transportation must be confronted as its own distinct and separate topic.”
As the preface to his remarks on higher education, Gov. Corbett quoted President Obama’s latest State of the Union address (“Let me put colleges and universities on notice”). Before Corbett spoke of his proposed reforms to Department of Public Welfare programs, he quoted Franklin D. Roosevelt’s comments on poorly administered funds (“a narcotic, a subtle destroyer of the human spirit”).
But Corbett he brought his budget address home with a nod to Ronald Reagan, saying he understood “the need for a balance between a vigorous government and an overbearing one.” The $27.14 billion plan is roughly the same as last year’s budgeted amount of state funding.
“In the coming weeks, we will sit to work out the final details as we map out our course,” said Corbett, alluding to upcoming budget hearings scheduled for state agencies. “But this map does have boundaries. We will not spend more than we have.”
