Robbins Votes to Keep Government Programs, Services in Business

Including Educational Assistance Program for National Guard

Harrisburg - Seeking to keep vital government programs and services operating while budget negotiations continue, Senator Bob Robbins (R-50) voted to override a number of Governor Rendell’s recent line item vetoes of Senate Bill 850. Despite unanimous Republican support, the veto override failed when only one Democrat voted for the measure – which requires a two-thirds majority. Had it succeeded in both the Senate and House, funding would have begun flowing to programs that the Governor cut.

Robbins said that the Governor is trying to create a crisis atmosphere by holding a number of programs and services hostage, including drug and alcohol treatment programs, homeless assistance, veterans outreach services, the National Guard Education Assistance Program and domestic violence and rape crisis programs.

"The Governor's decision to veto funding for these programs is unnecessary and mean-spirited and it will hurt Pennsylvanians who rely on these services," Robbins said. "While we work to close a $3.2 billion budget shortfall, we need to ensure that families who need state and county services are provided with them."

Robbins said he was particularly concerned about reinstating funding for the National Guard Education Assistance Program, which the Governor removed from Senate Bill 850 – the Senate-passed budget plan that funded essential programs without the Governor’s proposed income tax increase.

"Pennsylvania is home to the largest National Guard unit in the country – and many are currently serving our state and our country in Iraq," Robbins said during remarks on the Senate floor. "We made a commitment to these brave individuals that if they joined the Pennsylvania National Guard the state would provide tuition assistance to attend a Pennsylvania school of higher education. We owe it to these soldiers and their families to live up to that commitment.

Robbins said there are approximately 4,000 guardsmen serving with the 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team in Iraq. Some of these soldiers are with Company B and Headquarters and Headquarters Company of the 1st Battalion of the 112th Infantry, a unit from Cambridge Springs, Crawford County and located in the 50th Senatorial District. Every day they put their lives on the line defending our freedom and helping to win the war on terrorism.

"As a combat infantry soldier who served this great country in the jungles of Vietnam and who spearheaded the National Guard Education Assistance Program here in the General Assembly, I find it shameful that this assistance would be unnecessarily cut off for soldiers who are protecting us –and who counted on this funding to pay for their education," Robbins said.

Robbins also voted to reinstate funding for a number of core government services that have been left in limbo because of the budget impasse.

Among the line items which the Governor vetoed despite the fact that Senate Bill 850 funded them at exactly the amount he recommended:

Homeless Assistance, $25.6 million
Domestic Violence, $12.5 million
Rape Crisis, $7.1 million
Veterans' Educational Assistance, $7.0 million
Veterans' Outreach Services, $1.7 million
Veterans’ Assistance, $428,000
Disabled Veterans’ Transportation, $350,000

Override votes also took place on several additional line items under which the lack of state funding is having an immediate and dramatic negative impact on Pennsylvania residents, including:

PHEAA Grants to Students, $386.2 million
Child Care Assistance, $198.1 million
Community Mental Retardation Programs, $158.4 million

Senator Robbins added that there is plenty of existing funding for the programs that Republicans tried to restore.

"Governor Rendell certified more than $25 billion in available revenue," he said. "He signed less than $11 billion of spending into law, and the overrides considered today total less than $1 billion. The funding is available for these important services, and there is no reason they should be held hostage in this budget impasse."

Contact:

Michael Hengst
(717) 787-1322