STATE BUDGET IS A COMPROMISE
HARRISBURG, JULY 7 – A $24. 3 billion state spending plan that cuts in half the Medicaid shortfall caused by federal cuts is on its way to the governor’s desk, according to state Sen. Connie Williams.
According to Williams, the General Assembly used surplus dollars from the state’s recovering economy, coupled with carefully prioritized spending to soften nearly all of the health service cuts, while holding the line on taxes and increasing investment in education and the environment.
In looking at the Medicaid issue, Williams noted that the final budget restores many of the proposed Medicaid cuts and also covers much of hospitals’ ever-increasing uncompensated care costs
The budget includes $85 million drawn from the interest of the state’s tobacco settlement funds for the AdultBasic program – a health insurance program for uninsured adults, and increases state support for public education.
“For the first time in 18 years, the state is increasing its reimbursement for school construction projects,” Williams said. “The most important aspect of this increase is that it is retroactive to projects approved on January 1, 2005. This will be good news school districts, including Upper Merion, which fall into this category.”
The bill increases building reimbursement limitations by slightly more than 20 percent and creates a 10 percent reimbursement initiative for renovation projects that use prototype designs and designated green buildings.
The education bill also includes Educational Assistance Grants for school districts where at least one school has failed to achieve proficiency targets in math or reading based upon the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment. A total of $66 million will be funded for tutoring assistance, including a $28 million increase targeted for tutoring students in grades 7 through 12.
The budget doubles state assistance for Head Start to $30 million and provides for a new dual enrollment program that allows high school students to take postsecondary courses and receive credit for high school graduation and toward a college degree.
Community colleges will benefit from a new funding formula that reimburses the colleges for operating costs based on the college’s enrollment in credit and non-credit courses in 2004-05, as well as through the establishment of a Community College Capital Fund for payments for approved capital expenses. A $37 million allocation is included in the budget for debt service for community colleges.
On the subject of the pay raise, which she supported, Williams said that while she was fortunate enough not to need the pay raise, a number of her colleagues that have young families do.
“Also, Pennsylvania has a full-time legislature, unlike other states where legislators only work part of the year,” Williams said. “If we’re not working in Harrisburg, we are working in our districts. And if we want to attract highly qualified and dynamic people to public service we have to make legislators’ jobs competitive with other professional-level positions.”
“As I have done in the past, I will donate my pay increase to my local libraries,” Williams said. “In this way, everyone in the community will benefit.”
The 17th Senate District also will benefit from the plan to distribute the voter-approved Growing Greener II bonds.
The spending plan distributes the entire $625 million in bonds to the Department of Environmental Protection, Conservation and Natural Resources, Community and Economic Development and Agriculture departments and to the Fish and Boat and Game Commissions for environmental programs and grants that are similar to projects allowed in Growing Greener I.
Pennsylvania counties will share $90 million for discretionary spending on qualifying projects. Counties must obtain approval from the appropriate state department for projects. Delaware and Montgomery counties, which are second class A counties will receive $2.7 million each.
“This was a difficult budget year with Medicaid cuts looming and a loss of federal funds,” Williams said. “This budget represents a compromise.”