Western PA Counties support human services funding
From an Article by Christine Haines, Uniontown Herald Standard, March 14, 2015
Commissioners in the four-county area are taking a stand in support of continuing funding for human services even in the face of a future state budget impasse.
The Washington, Greene and Westmoreland county commissioners have adopted resolutions proposed by the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania (CCAP), with the Fayette County commissioners expected to adopt a similar resolution next week.
“Our payments are behind for CYS (Children and Youth Services),” said Vince Vicites, chairman of the Fayette County commissioners. “With our budget that we just passed, as least $8 million is state funded from a $32 million budget. That’s a lot of money that we have to bridge until a budget is passed.”
According to the resolution passed in Washington County, the county has tapped into reserves, borrowed funds or suspended payments to vendors, as well as limiting travel and reducing hours in order to continue to provide client services. Washington County has spent $3 million in reserves to keep human services going that are normally covered by state funding.
The letter sent to the governor and the legislators also calls for a restoration of the 10 percent in funding cut from seven key human services budget line items in the 2012-13 budget and not restored. Larry Maggi, chairman of the Washington County commissioners, said Washington county has been able to make it this long without state funding because of money from the Marcellus shale gas industry, but it’s time for officials in Harrisburg to take responsibility.
“The legislature and everyone needs to get down to doing what they are elected to do. They are holding all of us hostage, especially human services. We are able to hold out longer because of the gas money, but there is a limit. We can’t keep funding them from our reserves. Other counties have it even worse,” Maggi said. “It’s an election year and we still can’t get them to move.”
Greene County also opted to put Marcellus shale gas money toward human services operations, according to Karen Bennett, the county’s human services director, and also took out a tax anticipation note to keep services going. “We were restricting travel and training,” Bennett said.
According to Bennett, training was limited to what was required for caseworkers to maintain their credentials, and programs that normally involved two monthly home visits were cut back to one visit if that was all that was required by law.
Positions required by law were filled, while others fell under a hiring freeze.
“If we have to face this again, I’m not certain what’s going to happen,” Bennett said.
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West Virginia Governor Tomblin says work to stop on state budget due to new estimates
Charleston, WV, WVAH News 11 (WCHS/WVAH/AP) — With coal and natural gas tax money dwindling, West Virginia lawmakers are finishing a budget session without a spending plan. In a news release Tuesday, Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin said he’ll send lawmakers home and bring them back later this spring. The new budget year starts July 1.
The Republican-led Legislature returned Monday to negotiate a budget with a gap initially pegged at $466 million. Revenue Secretary Bob Kiss estimated revenues will be $92 million lower.
The House budget used $32 million from Rainy Day Fund reserves, $17 million in extra cuts and $72 million from agency accounts. The Democratic governor has said he’ll veto a budget tapping reserves.
Senators proposed $115 million through higher tobacco taxes and $20 million by eliminating greyhound racing subsidies not approved by the House.
In a joint news release, Senate President Bill Cole, R-Mercer, and House Speaker Tim Armstead, R-Kanawha, reacted to the new revenue projections, saying the Legislature will come back at a later date to come up with a new plan to balance the budget.
“Our economy is facing tremendous challenges due to the War on Coal and declines in natural gas markets. Our state’s budget situation is a result of that,” Cole said. “We have worked diligently during the 60-day session to craft a balanced budget, and were prepared to pass a budget today based on the administration’s original revenue projections.”
Armstead said lawmakers had no choice but to come back later to tackle the budget. He said lawmakers “remain committed to passing a balanced budget based on the new revenue estimates, and urge the governor to call us into session in a responsible timeframe to do so. If not, we will work to call ourselves into special session in ample time to pass a fiscal year 2017 budget that responsibly funds our government, and fully funds PEIA.”
Cole said regardless of how the state ended up in this situation, it will take the work of both the executive and the legislative branch to address it.
“Now that we have a more accurate revenue estimate, we absolutely must work to get our fiscal house in order and control the size of government while meeting essential obligations, especially to our state employees by fully funding PEIA,” Cole said. “At this point, across-the-board cuts aren’t enough to fix this situation. It is going to require tough, targeted reductions, and I believe those can be found in Charleston not in our State Police barracks or classrooms.”
Armstead said West Virginia residents are having a hard time making ends meet, and state officials must work together in the coming weeks to produce a balanced, responsible budget that “addresses the needs of our fellow West Virginians and at the same time does not place additional undue burdens on our hard-working citizens.”
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The governor said in a news release that the West Virginia Department of Revenue on Tuesday provided the Legislature with updated estimates for fiscal year 2017. New estimates were lowered by about $240 million, which reflects $148 million in proposed tax increases that were not passed by the Legislature during the regular legislative session. It also reflects an additional $92.4 million reduction in estimates to account for the continued downturn in global energy markets, which is affecting West Virginia and several other energy-producing states, Tomblin said.
Tomblin said the new projected general revenue budget for fiscal year 2017 is $4.09 billion.
“Because these updated figures further complicate an already difficult budget process, legislators will stop work on the fiscal year 2017 budget today,” Tomblin said. “I urge all 134 members of the Legislature to come to the table with a willingness to work with my administration to find a responsible solution to be considered later this spring. Together, we must agree to a responsible budget that takes these major changes into account while maintaining the critical services on which so many residents rely.”
Lawmakers had returned to the Capitol this week for a three-day special session after they were unable to reach a budget consensus at the close of the regular session Saturday.
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See also: www.FrackCheckWV.net
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Governor Wolf Issues a Statement on Vetoing the Republican Budget
Budget News, Statement, March 16, 2016
Harrisburg, PA – Governor Wolf released the following statement:
“Despite repeated efforts by my administration to work with Republican leaders to find compromise, including over the last couple days, Republican leaders are once again insistent on passing another irresponsible and unbalanced budget that does not fund our schools or fix the deficit.
“This is further indication that the Republican leaders have no intention of working together with me to produce a final budget. This is the third time they have attempted to pass an unbalanced budget with no consultation with the administration. This is simply unproductive and a waste of taxpayer resources.
“The math in the latest version still does not work. Even using the Republicans’ questionable math and assumptions, the budget creates a $1.6 billion deficit that will prompt massive cuts to education, teacher layoffs, higher property taxes, and cuts to vital programs for seniors. This budget not only does nothing to address Pennsylvania’s challenges, but by continuing to kick the can down the road, it further exacerbates our problems.
“In its current form, I will veto this budget, and I urge Republicans in the legislature to stop the partisan games and come back to the table to negotiate a final budget that funds our schools and eliminates the nearly $2 billion deficit. I look forward to working with both parties in the legislature to finally end this impasse, fix our schools, and eliminate the deficit.”