Eighteen State House members yesterday released a plan to use money that is languishing in state accounts to erase the state’s deficit and fund the new budget…without raising taxes.
The plan called the “Taxpayers’ Budget” would unlock more than $1.2 billion in accumulated funds from forty-one special accounts, plus $1.1 billion from other sources, such as money not spent from previous budgets, court settlements, and legislative surpluses. The lawmakers also call for $200 million in funding freezes in the current budget.
Representative Chris Dush, whose 66th District includes a portion of Indiana County, says there is no need to raise taxes when the money to fund the budget is already in hand. “There was an awful lot of money sitting surplus in 218 special funds.” He says it’s a way to pay off the $1.5 billion that “Governor Wolf overspent last year”, and also fund the $600 to $700 million needed to balance this year’s budget.
Adopting the plan would still require some hard choices. It asks for a $100 million increase in assessments on managed care groups, relies on collecting an additional $32 million in sales taxes from online purchases, and saves $28 million by cutting in half unallocated future tax credits.
Still wanting tax increases, Governor Wolf criticized the Taxpayers’ Budget. The governor says he will start freezing some state spending on September 15th unless he gets a budget funding plan.
