Senator Robbins Statement on Budget Impasse

House Majority must act to move process toward resolution

"It is extremely disappointing that for the seventh straight year Pennsylvania goes into a new fiscal year without a budget in place. What makes it even more unfortunate is the fact that the Senate acted on May 6 by sending a budget (Senate Bill 850) to the House of Representatives for consideration. Over the ensuing 55 days this proposal has been criticized by the Administration and the House majority party, but they have not considered Senate Bill 850 or any other budget proposal. If the House has a better plan, one supported by a majority of its members, we would like to see it. I would like to see progress. I would like to see negotiations. But, at this point all we have heard is criticism and the resulting lack of productivity ensured that the current Administration has maintained its streak of never producing a budget on time. I was proud to stand with my colleagues at a press conference this afternoon during which we again made it clear that our philosophy centers on restraining spending during this recession. We favor temporary spending cuts instead of the temporary income tax increase supported by the Governor and the House majority. People across the Commonwealth are cutting their spending to make ends meet. It's just not right that state government would ask those folks to pay more taxes because it can't control its spending."

Contact:

Michael Hengst
(717) 787-1322