Marsico Pleased Final Budget Now Law
HARRISBURG –Rep. Ron Marsico (R-Lower Paxton) released the following statement as the final 2015-16 state budget finally became law. Last week, Gov. Tom Wolf announced he would neither veto nor sign the General Assembly’s budget but instead would allow it to become law without his signature:
“The General Assembly recently passed
House Bill 1801, which will restore funding for schools, universities, hospitals, corrections and agriculture without any new or increased taxes. Since its passage, taxpayers across the state have been pleading with Gov. Wolf to bring the impasse to an end by allowing this no-tax-increase budget to become law. I am pleased that the governor finally did the right thing for the Commonwealth and decided to allow our responsible spending plan to become law.
“For three-quarters of a year, Pennsylvanians have been paying taxes while school districts and agencies took out interest-bearing loans in order to maintain operations. This is completely irresponsible and unacceptable.
“All of the budget bills we have passed, including the one sent to Gov. Wolf last year before the June 30 deadline, would have fully funded government services and included record-setting state funding for education without increasing taxes. Unfortunately, the governor continued to make decisions that created crisis after crisis and accomplished nothing except to inflict pain on the taxpayers.
“Finally, school districts will receive the funds they have been so desperately waiting for and need to stay open. And, government agencies will be able to return to the business of serving the residents of the Commonwealth.
“I have been listening to what people in my district, and across the state, have been saying since we began the process of passing this budget almost a year ago. They asked me to fight against higher taxes, so that’s what I continued to do and we prevailed.
“Now, we must focus on passage of the 2016-17 budget, which is due on June 30. It is my priority to do my part in implementing a responsible budget on time. And it is my hope that all parties involved in this process will have the same priority. We need to put politics aside and do what’s right for Pennsylvanians.”
Representative Ronald Marsico
105th District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
RonMarsico.com
Media Contact: Autumn R. Southard, 717.652.3721
asouthar@pahousegop.com