Jul. 13, 2016
HARRISBURG – Rep. Tina Pickett (R-Bradford/Sullivan/Susquehanna) today said that the 2016-17 state budget and accompanying revenue proposal that passed the House this week does not contain any broad-based tax increases for Pennsylvania residents. The state budget officially became law on Monday night.
The $31.6 billion budget contains more than $200 million more in kindergarten through 12th grade education and additional investments for special education, higher education, as well as preschool, cyber charter and Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) programs. It also sets aside $15 million to help fight the opioid abuse epidemic through additional treatment services.
“The budget we passed is billions less than what the governor proposed in February and doesn’t include the billions he wanted in income and sales taxes,” Pickett said. “Most notably, we were able to fight off attempts to make an income tax increase retroactive. This budget did require some additional revenue to meet federal mandates and required corrections and health care costs, but our overall goal of preventing income and sales tax hikes has been reached.”
The state budget also includes funding for three classes of state police cadets to help fill gaps created by upcoming state police retirements.
Other line items receiving additional money include money for state veterans’ homes, and funding to address the waiting list for services for senior citizens and those with intellectual disabilities.
“This budget was a compromise in the truest sense, and because of that, we were able to avoid a prolonged impasse that affected so many agencies and people throughout the Northern Tier,” Pickett said. “By no means was this budget a perfect plan, but it is responsible to the taxpayers and funds our core functions.”
Representative Tina Pickett
110th District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Jennifer Keaton
jkeaton@pahousegop.com
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