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Senate Approves $22.2 Billion Budget for 2004-05
Amended Spending Plan Now Returns to House for Concurrence
HARRISBURG -- The
Senate today approved an amended version of the proposed 2004-05 state budget
and sent it back to the House of Representatives for concurrence, advancing the
process for finalizing a spending plan before June 30, according to Senate
Appropriations Committee Chairman Robert J. Thompson, R-19th District.
House Bill 2579 as approved by the Senate is similar
to the budget originally proposed by Governor Rendell except that it does not
include the expenditures that were to be funded through increases in trash
disposal fees. It also restores the funding for Pennsylvania Accountability
Grants to the $175 million level as agreed to by the Administration and General
Assembly as part of the 2003-04 budget agreement.
The $22.26 billion spending plan is slightly less
than what the Governor requested. It also holds Pennsylvania’s personal income
tax rate steady at 3.07 percent.
“This budget includes a modest increase of 3.7
percent in spending while holding the line on taxes,” Senator Thompson said.
“This is a responsible and affordable budget that addresses basic needs without
imposing any additional tax burdens on families or business.”
HB 2579 includes a $109.2 million increase (2.6
percent) in basic education for a proposed total of $4.3 billion. Special
education subsidies would increase by $25.3 million (2.8 percent) to $930
million in FY 2004-05.
Every Pennsylvania school district would be
guaranteed a minimum 2 percent increase in basic and special education funding
under the Senate-amended version of HB 2579. The Governor’s original budget
request included a 1.5 percent minimum increase in state funding to schools.
“This amended budget improves academic opportunities
for Pennsylvania’s children by increasing funding for basic and special
education to levels above what the Governor requested. If you factor those
increases and the $175 million in Pennsylvania Accountability Grants, new state
funding for basic education for 2004-05 would be over 6 percent in the amended
version of HB 2579,” Senator Thompson said.
The amended budget also adds $5.3 million in funding
to Pennsylvania’s libraries on top of the $4.7 million requested by the
Governor, Senator Thompson added. The Senate also added $10 million to help
resolve backlog in state payments to Approved Private Schools.
“It is essential that we act to provide these
payments to the APS that have completed the audit process,” said Senator
Thompson, a leader in the effort to include the funding in the budget. “These
schools provide valuable services to Pennsylvania’s families with special needs
children and the current funding impasse regarding the APS is putting that care
at risk.”
In his original budget request, Governor Rendell
called for an $800 million bond issue, a new 15 cent-per-pound tax on Toxic
Release Inventory chemicals, $5 per-ton tipping fee increases, as well as a $4
per-ton tax increase on residual waste. Acting on concerns raised by Senate
Republicans, the amended version of HB 2579 reduces spending to eliminate the
proposed borrowing and fee increases.
“We worked with the Governor to produce an economic
stimulus package and this amended budget builds on that by promoting an
atmosphere conducive to economic stability and job growth. We are still
recovering from the recent economic slowdown and it would be imprudent to impose
these kinds of fee increases. These fees would most directly impact our
manufacturers, industries and energy producing companies, which could result in
workforce reductions,” Senator Thompson said. “To impose these fees now would
be counterproductive to what we are trying to accomplish in improving
Pennsylvania’s attractiveness to economic development.”
The Senate also added funding for two agricultural
programs.
The crop insurance account, which was targeted for a
50 percent reduction in the Governor’s proposal, will receive an additional $1
million to bring it back up to the current funding level. The Plum Pox
eradication program, which was eliminated in the Governor’s proposal will
receive $1 million, Senator Thompson said.
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