According to Dave Mattei, who is running against incumbent Joe Emrick, "The General Assembly has a constitutional responsibility to pass a sustainable revenue package to pay for what they have spent."
He points out that Republican refusal to raise the necessary revenue could put millions of children, seniors, and vulnerable citizens at risk of losing the funding they need. Funding for drug and alcohol centers, the opioid epidemic, services that provide assistance for disabilities, domestic violence programs, basic and higher education programs, and prescription drug assistance for seniors, are now at risk. . Our Commonwealth could again face teacher layoffs, larger class sizes, and skyrocketing property taxes.
"Our Commonwealth cannot afford another budget crisis, and it is deplorable that Rep. Emrick and the Republicans in Harrisburg cannot fulfill their basic Constitutional duties," said Mattei in a statement released late last night.
Maybe Emrick has a money tree. In his back yard.
According to Dave Mattei, who is running against incumbent Joe Emrick, "The General Assembly has a constitutional responsibility to pass a sustainable revenue package to pay for what they have spent." How about spend what you have, not what you want.
ReplyDeleteHere;s the thing. Emrick has written a bad check.
ReplyDeleteWolf did the right thing here. Ball now in legislature's court and they all face reelection..soon.
ReplyDeleteEmrick has been a poor representative for this region. As we've increased in population, he's failed to bring back the necessary funding to update our infrastructure. And, like the other republicans, he's been irresponsible about funding the government--too obsessed with protecting corporations and the wealthy from paying taxes.
ReplyDeleteAllowing a unbalanced budget to go into effect is hardly the right thing. He has managed to make Corbett look good. But yes, the Rs are idiots for voting out the unbalanced budget.
ReplyDeletePolitical ploy gone wrong. Typical R planning and implementation. OH! We forgot the funding? HA!
ReplyDeleteHis money tree is as full as his "campaign" bank account........... WOW $130,000. He should take some that money and use it to pay for the money he is spending.
ReplyDeleteWhere does his campaign money come from? Who is bankrolling his do nothing style of representation? We need to know who owns this empty suit who supposedly speaks for us here in the lowly SB/Nazareth area.
ReplyDeleteNice to see how the legislature is doing the end around for the Act 89 transportation revenue. The law that increased the gas tax for the purposes of repairing and improving our infrastructure is now being gutted to fund the PSP. All those projects promised to the public (and politicians) are being shelved because the powers that be have diverted over $800M (up from $755M) of the projected $2.3B revenue (35%) to fund the PSP. There is no other state in the region that takes such a large share of its infrastructure monies to fund their state police force. This NOT to take anything away from the troopers; their job is critical and they do a superb job. But the folks in the Harrisburg Clown College are going to have some explaining to do when their constituents start asking why they are paying more at the pump and their roads and bridges are not being fixed (as promised. )
ReplyDeleteAdd dirt bag Marcia Hahn to this list also. Another do nothing GOP help the rich only clone! Time to vote them all out!!!!
ReplyDeleteOnce they have your money...all bets are off. Shame on us for swallowing the lie.
ReplyDeleteWhat happened to the drive to make free loading towns and townships fund the PSP? That is where that funding should come from but too hot politically to handle? Don't want to hiss off the voters with a reelection nearing? Cowards!
ReplyDeleteAccording to the commonwealth foundation,"Here’s the problem. The budget spends over $1.1 billion more than available revenue, and Pennsylvania’s Administrative Code says the governor must veto any part of an appropriations bill that exceeds official revenue estimates plus any unappropriated surplus." so it looks like this budget is not a done deal.
ReplyDeleteLet it be known that this is a BI-PARTISAN budget package that was voted on by both D's and R's alike therefore Mattei obviously does not know what he is talking about when he spouts off about Joe Emrick essentially being a part of the downfall of the Commonwealth. If you want to play politics Dave you should probably pay more attention and know that the representatives on your side of the aisle voted for the same budget package as the representatives on the opposite side of the aisle. Take your smear campaign elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteMattei did not approve this budget..and the R's control the state legislature so your argument does not hold water. The messenger is correct. The smears come with the job Joe. Don't be so thin skinned and get to work!
ReplyDeleteWhere in 10:29am's comment did they make mention amount Mattei approving the budget and the R's holding control of the legislature? They did not, so your comment is irrelevant. I believe the commentor wanted to point out the fact that Mattei rips Republicans and Emrick but does not rip into the members of his party for voting for the same piece of legislation. You have the typical mindset of any other D, if a Democrat votes for it then it must be good, if a Republican votes for it then it must be bad...even if it's the same piece of legislation!
ReplyDeleteI am not by any means defending the legislatures spending plan. That's a diatribe for another time. The facts according to the PA Administrative Code "The Governor shall item veto any part of any appropriation bill that causes total appropriations to exceed the official estimate plus any unappropriated surplus." Also the ultimate onus is put on the governor in Chapter 71, Section 4105 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, which states, "The Governor shall certify that any appropriation bill does not cause total appropriations to exceed revenues plus any unappropriated surplus as provided in section 618 of the act of April 9, 1929 (P.L.177, No.175), known as The Administrative Code of 1929." In the previous two budgets, Wolf and Corbett used both the line-item veto and the item-reduction veto.Governor Wolf could indeed "fix" this budget. He has recently said that he wants only a balanced budget. He has decided to do nothing.Wolf may not prefer to reduce spending but he has the legal power and obligation to do so. He has the power to avoid an extended budget impasse.
ReplyDeleteRaise enough revenue? For the love of Pete, we already have one of the most crushing tax burdens in the country. It's why newly minted college grads run from PA. They're chasing companies that ran from PA. Enough already.
ReplyDelete832, please provide specifics? I am not buying slogans nor am I advocating for a tax increase. I am opposed to constant borrowing and use of no tax increase monikers. Passing the bill to the next generatiin is not a balanced budget. I lije to see some level of pay as you go. As one of the 5 major gas producing states, PA is the only state that does not have a severence tax.
ReplyDeleteI'm actually surprised that no has sued over this.
ReplyDeleteHank_Hill