Feb. 09, 2016
HARRISBURG – On Tuesday, Rep. Kurt A. Masser (R-Columbia/Montour/Northumberland), a member of the House Appropriations Committee, issued the following statement after reviewing Gov. Tom Wolf’s budget proposal for the upcoming fiscal year:
“Our governor needs a reality check. He needs to have conversations with the working class people all around the state. The message from the people of the 107th District is the same as others across the state– ‘live within your means, and don’t increase my taxes.’ The people of Pennsylvania are overwhelmingly not asking the state government to grow in size and spend more of their money. At a time when our national economy is recovering very slowly and our senior citizens saw a zero percent increase in their Social Security, this governor continues to insist on reaching into their pockets with new and expanded taxes.
“I’m disappointed that the governor just glanced over the major problem facing our budget, which is public pension reform. He kept referring to past agreements that were broken; however, he failed to mention the other pieces of the agreements that were not passed, such as pension reform, liquor privatization and property tax reform. All these were key to reaching that deal.
“The proposal he released today continues the removal of critical health and agricultural lines in the fiscal year 2015-16 and fiscal year 2016-17 budget proposals. Not only does agriculture play a significant role in the district I represent, but it’s also our state’s No. 1 industry. How can this governor continue to make cuts to one of our most valuable sources of production?
“I am looking forward to working with the governor and my colleagues in the Legislature to pass a responsible budget that spends within our means and funds government’s core services. I am hopeful we can do that without Gov. Wolf needlessly again holding our schools, counties and human service agencies hostage for six months while he attempts to pressure us into massive tax plans.”
Gov. Tom Wolf signed the current year’s budget on Dec. 29, 2015, but line-item vetoed $6.3 billion, making the budget only 87 percent complete. For information about this statement, or any other state-related issue, contact Masser’s district office in Elysburg located at 467 Industrial Park Road, by calling 570-648-8017. Information can also be found online at
RepMasser.com or
Facebook.com/RepMasser.
Representative Kurt A. Masser
107th District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Contact: Krisinda Corbin
717.705.2032
kcorbin@pahousegop.com
RepMasser.com /
Facebook.com/RepMasser