Pickett: Pennsylvanians Don’t Want and Can’t Afford Wolf’s Budget
HARRISBURG – Rep. Tina Pickett (R-Bradford/Sullivan/Susquehanna) today attended a joint session of the General Assembly to hear Gov. Tom Wolf outline his budget proposal for the 2022-23 fiscal year.
She issued the following statement in response to the governor’s $43.7 billion spending plan:
“The No. 1 concern I hear from residents is, ‘don’t raise my taxes, not this year or any year.’ The budget proposal the governor laid out for us today sets up Pennsylvania to do just that because of his unrealistic 16% increase in state spending.
“The people of Pennsylvania want safety for their families, sound education for their children, good roads and bridges, quality care for our most vulnerable citizens and seniors, and state agencies that are on the job.
“What they have gotten from the Wolf administration instead are policies that hurt their small businesses and schools without being able to provide any input on either. Remember those essential/non-essential business lists and the glaring inequities? They have also gotten higher costs in the form of rising energy and grocery bills, and unnerving inflation that is eroding their wages and retirement savings.
“This governor is seeking to embellish his legacy with an out-of-control budget that fails to consider the Commonwealth’s future financial health. He is proposing a legacy alright – one that Pennsylvanians do not want and cannot afford.”
Pickett noted that the governor’s address is just the beginning of the annual budget process. The House Appropriations Committee will conduct a series of hearings starting Tuesday, Feb. 15, to examine the details of the governor’s plan and how state departments and agencies are spending their funding. A schedule of the hearings and more information on the 2022-23 budget is available at
pahousegop.com.
To view or download a broadcast-quality video of Pickett’s statement,
click here.