Harrisburg, July 1, 2013 – State Sen. Jim Brewster (D-Allegheny/Westmoreland) today said he was disappointed in the passage of the 2013-14 state budget because it did not adequately fund education, job creation or other critical needs of Pennsylvania.
“This spending plan just isn’t good enough,” Brewster said. “For the third year in a row, the citizens of Pennsylvania are the ones who suffer.”
Brewster said Senate Democrats offered plans that better met the priorities of the state, but many of them were ignored, most notably education and economic development.
Throughout the past two years, the Corbett administration cut nearly $1 billion from the education budget, and this budget does little to remedy that, Brewster said. Between last year’s budget and this Corbett spending plan, Pennsylvania schools are still down at least $750 million.
There are at least 33 school districts identified by Senate Democrats that are in real economic distress and need an immediate infusion of cash, but this budget does not earmark extra funds for economically hard-hit school districts that face deep cuts, local tax increases and more hardship, Brewster said.
“In addition to underfunding education, the budget flat funds job creation assistance programs such as Regional Economic Partnerships and infrastructure facilities grants,” Brewster said. “It’s clear job creation is not a top priority for this administration.”
Brewster said job creation programs, education and social safety nets need investments now more than ever.
“This budget fails the Pennsylvanians we promised to serve,” Brewster said.
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