Pileggi+Says+Budget+Surplus+Should+be+Used+Now+to+Provide+Program+Relief

= = =Published: Saturday, June 04, 2011= =By WM. SHAWN WEIGEL, Special to the Times= =The state budget continues to dominate the discussion in Harrisburg, according to State Sen. Dominic Pileggi.= =Speaking at the Oxford Rotary’s monthly meeting Wednesday afternoon, Pileggi, R-9, of Chester, said that his staff met with the Senate Appropriations Committee earlier that day to put together a budget proposal for Gov. Tom Corbett’s $27.3 billion budget by June.= =Pileggi said that while Corbett’s proposed budget made sense back in March when it was first released, an income surplus has changed the perspective on certain reductions.= =“He chose to reduce spending within that framework primarily in education,” Pileggi said.= =He added that the House’s proposal restored some of the education funding within the $27.3 billion range by shifting funds from public welfare.= = “There’s a general sentiment to try and do more for schools,” Pileggi said of the current discussion among the Senate. “I like the direction that the House took, but I don’t think they did enough for K through 12 education. I think that’s where our primary responsibility is and we should try to do more there.” = =Pileggi said that revenue collections for the last three months have exceeded revenue projections from last June, leaving the state with a roughly $500 million surplus at the end of the current fiscal year.= =“The governor didn’t plan for that when he made his budget address on March 8 because he didn’t know – we didn’t know,” Pileggi said.= =Pileggi said that figure doubles under next year’s projections coupled with the existing $500 million, leaving legislators wondering what to do with the extra tax dollars.= =“We think that some of that should be used now to restore programs that are critically important,” he said.= =That includes certain public welfare programs that provide support to the mentally challenged in group or community homes, Pileggi said.= =“I think that we have an obligation to help people who can’t help themselves in those areas, and that’s not where we should be cutting back,” he said. “Why would you cut there if you had money in the surplus?”= = Pileggi said the senate is currently developing an alternative plan to the House plan, with a goal of using that above-estimate revenue to restore what he said were critical programs throughout the budget. = =“In a way that looks forward to the 2012-13 [budget cycle] so that whatever spending level we set for 11-12 is sustainable … without raising taxes,” he said.= =Regarding the education cuts, Pileggi said there are several school reform issues before the Senate in an effort to provide some mandate relief to districts struggling with their own budgets.= =That includes a charter school reform bill that is also moving forward, with a possibility of completion by the end of the year, Pileggi said.= =Pileggi also discussed the potential redistricting of state House, Senate and Congressional district boundaries throughout the state, based on the most recent census numbers.= =“Everyone of us could, potentially, end up in the next election cycle not representing Oxford Borough, because all of those lines change, and they have to change to meet the ‘one person, one vote’ requirement of the Constitution,” he said.= =Pileggi said he is a member of the commission assigned to examine those boundary lines and that the process is already underway, with a goal of holding public hearings on the matter by late fall. However, that commission does not set the Congressional lines, Pileggi said; that matter is handled by a bill process that runs through the House and the Senate as assigned by the governor.= =“We have lost one member of Congress. We’re moving from 19 to 18 in the 2012 election cycle, down from 36 in 1920,” Pileggi said. “That was Pennsylvania’s high point for Congress … we’re not growing as fast as other states.”= =Pileggi said that while Marcellus Shale regulatory issues and the “distracted driving” bill are also dominating the legislative agenda, the main focus is on getting the budget finalized on time for the first time in nine years.= =“Everyone shares that goal. We’re trying to get this all done,” he said.= = = = = =News= =home=