Kozak Fights Excess Spending, Supports RGGI Removal During State Budget Votes
HARRISBURG – State Rep. Roman Kozak (R-Beaver) issued this statement following House passage of a General Appropriations bill for the 2025-26 fiscal year:
“This week, more than four months after the deadline, we were called to Harrisburg for a series of votes to finalize our state budget. As with every compromise, there are parts of this budget deal that I’m concerned about, and others that I’m proud to support.
“First and foremost, I’m happy to report the General Assembly will be repealing the regulations that put us into the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). RGGI is responsible for Pennsylvania losing out on 22,000 energy jobs and nearly $8 billion in economic development. With RGGI out of the way, we can work toward ensuring the reliability of our power grid and driving down energy costs for our families.
“However, I still have serious concerns about how much this budget spends. The budget deal that passed this week accounts for more than $50 billion in spending for the current fiscal year. That’s an increase of nearly 5% over last year’s spending, which works out to more than $2.2 billion.
“This plan nearly empties the General Fund surplus to plug the hole in revenue. That’s not sustainable budgeting. Most of the money we’re appropriating in this budget will be expected next year, but the money taken out of the General Fund surplus will not magically reappear. That means we would either need to make cuts or raise taxes moving forward.
“The good news is the policy improvements included in this deal have the potential to significantly grow our economy, starting with the energy sector. Now that unnecessary carbon taxes are off the table, we can jumpstart our energy production and, hopefully, welcome more families and businesses to our Commonwealth.”