Making up the state budget deficit, moving forward
HARRISBURG – State Representative Fred Keller (R-85th, Kreamer) says state legislators have a lot of work to do when they return to Harrisburg next week. Representative Keller called WKOK’s On The Mark this week and said Pennsylvania is about to run out of revenue. The governor says the state freeze funding for some programs September 15.
Keller said he believes the legislature needs to first take care of last year’s budget shortfall by using funds that are available and then work with Governor Tom Wolfe to plan for the future. He says one solution is the billions of dollars waiting to be spent on specific budget line items.
He said, “There is some money in some accounts people think that we can use. I tend to believe that. You know, to pay last year’s shortfall, and then going forward into this year, I think we’ll work with the governor and take a look at our options going forward.”
He says he’ll vote ‘no’ on some of the tax increases being discussed today, “None of us, I believe, need to involve these ancillary tax increases that everybody talking about, gross receipts and all, and actually, gross receipts when they talk about that, its electricity and other things is not ancillary taxes, because they’ll be passed onto the ratepayers.”
Keller says lagging revenues last year were not balanced by cuts in spending but rather more appropriations and that has to stop. You can hear the full interview with Keller in our On The Mark archives on wkok.com. (Chad Hershberger)
