Ellis: Here We Go Again With Proposing Massive Tax and Spend Hikes
Area legislator responds to Gov. Wolf’s budget proposal for 2016-17
HARRISBURG – Rep. Brian Ellis (R-Butler) issued the following statement on Tuesday after listening to Gov. Tom Wolf before a joint session of the General Assembly and reviewing Wolf’s budget proposal for the 2016-17 fiscal year:
“While reading over the governor’s budget proposal today, the reoccurring theme to me was, ‘here we go again.’ Here we go again with him proposing that massive, widespread tax proposals and spending increases are the answers to all of Pennsylvania’s problems. That didn’t work last year, and it’s not going to work now. The people of Pennsylvania simply cannot afford such increases.
“We are in a unique situation with this budget address today for two reasons. One, the governor today mentioned no details as to what is included in his plan; he opted to just scold the Legislature instead. He failed to mention how he plans to come up with the money to make his $33.29 billion budget for 2016-17 work. Two, the governor hasn’t completed the current year’s budget yet. That leads me to question how he can rightly propose even more spending, and even higher taxes for next year, when that wasn’t a possibility this year.
“Usually, the day of the budget address marks the first step in the budget-making process. That is not true this year. The Legislature sent the governor a budget proposal in December, which he signed, but not in its entirety. So today, the current state budget is only 87 percent complete, because of his cuts.
“I am extremely hopeful that in his second year, our governor has learned how the budget process works. To achieve a responsible spending plan, we must all work together. Negotiations are essential to this process. Partisan political attacks do not pass budgets; that is what leaders are for. It is my hope that our governor will be a leader with the budget process this year.”
For more information about this statement, or any other state-related issue, contact Ellis’ district office in Lyndora located at 6 Chesapeake St., Suite 200, by calling 724-283-5852. Information can also be found online at
RepEllis.com or
Facebook.com/RepEllis.
Representative Brian Ellis
11th District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Krisinda Corbin
717.705.2032
kcorbin@pahousegop.com
RepEllis.com /
Facebook.com/RepEllis