Posted: | January 13, 2015 04:14 PM |
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From: | Representative Dan Truitt |
To: | All House members |
Subject: | Budget Impasse |
Every June a cloud of uncertainty hovers over Harrisburg during the budget debates. Will the General Assembly pass a budget on time? Will our core responsibilities and government services that are provided by the Commonwealth continue to be implemented? Do employees of the state government have to worry about not receiving a paycheck? These are questions that millions of Pennsylvanians must ponder on a yearly basis. In the near future, I will re-introduce my HB-1678 from last session which was HB-947 (Schroder) of the prior session which is geared toward putting stability back in our budgetary process. The bill would allow the current year’s budget to “roll over” and be used as a temporary budget if one is not passed by June 30th for the following fiscal year. When a new budget finally does pass, it will take effect. If our revenue and surplus drop below what is necessary to maintain the current year budget, there would be across the board reductions to reflect the percentage of deficit facing the Commonwealth. It is our legislative duty to do what we believe is best for our constituents and for Pennsylvania. Debating can be healthy and we absolutely must participate in this process every year so that all of our citizens have a voice. This bill would allow us to continue our important discussions on behalf of our constituents without the possibility of damaging our state from any type of government shutdown. I hope you will join me in cosponsoring this important piece of legislation. Attached is last session’s bill. Previous co-sponsors (2011-2012): SCHRODER , AUMENT, BARRAR , BOBACK , BOYD , BROOKS , CONKLIN , D. COSTA, CREIGHTON , CUTLER , DeLUCA , FLECK , GABLER, GINGRICH , GRELL , GROVE, HARRIS , HICKERNELL , HORNAMAN , HUTCHINSON , KAUFFMAN , MILNE , MOUL , PYLE , ROAE , SWANGER , TALLMAN, TRUITT and WATSON Previous co-sponsors (2013-2014): TRUITT, AUMENT, BLOOM, CUTLER , GRELL , WATSON , MILLARD , KAUFFMAN , JAMES, GIBBONS , TALLMAN, BENNINGHOFF , GINGRICH , MURT, SWANGER and DENLINGER |
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View Attachment |
Introduced as HB232