Three Things You Can Do to Help Pass A Budget That's Good for Kids!

Under the leadership of Southeast Pennsylvania’s own “Cool Hand Dom” (Sen. Dominic Pileggi of Delaware and Chester counties) the programs listed below will be slashed – some as much as 100 PERCENT! You can help save them.

1). WRITE TO THE INQUIRER. Let the Inquirer’s editors know you’re not as impressed with Pileggi’s cost-cutting efforts (see below) as they are! (‘Cool Hand Dom’ a key player in budget battle) Tell them how your community will be impacted by the service cuts that Pileggi proposes.


2). ATTEND A “THANKS FOR THE CUTS, SENATOR PILEGGI!” RALLY THIS Friday (7/31), 12 noon, outside the Senator’s Chester, PA, office,. 415 Avenue of the States, (Bring SIGNS stating your area to be cut. See below.) For more information, contact sheilas@pccy.org, call 215-563-5848, ext. 12 or link to www.pccy.org/ealerts.htm.


Budget Line Item Cuts Under the Republican Budget Proposal
Drug Education and Law Enforcement 100%
Violence Prevention 100%
Police on Patrol 100%
Safe Neighborhoods 100%
Inmate Education 21%
CHIP Program 10,000 Children Cut
Cancer Programs 57%
HIV/AIDS Programs 25%
Regional Cancer Centers 100%
Tourette Syndrome 100%
Hemophilia 100%
Epilepsy 100%
Children's Hospital in Philadelphia 100%
Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh 100%
Fox Chase Cancer Institute 100%
Burn Foundation 100%
Pre-K Counts 50%
Head Start 50%
Adult Literacy 27%
Charter Schools 12%
High School Reform 75%
Science and Math Education 100%
HEMAP 10%
Customized Job Training 54%
Business Retention and Expansion 100%
Small Business Development Centers 62%
Minority Business Development Agency 100%
Housing & Redevelopment Assistance 100%
Grants To The Arts 100%
Long Term Care 100%
Services to Persons with Disabilities 100%
SOURCE: 2009-10 Senate appropriations State General Fund Budget Chart

3). INFORM YOUR DISTRICT LEGISLATOR . . . he or she needs to stay on the job until the job is done. If you’re in Philadelphia, let them know your city is suspending payments to vendors. No recess until you pass a budget that responds to the education and human service needs of your constituents!

State Budget: Focus Shifts to Senate

Twice in the past week the Pennsylvania House rejected Senate proposals to cut $2 billion from the budget – mostly from programs for children and families. (For a list of children's programs threatened by Senate action click here.)

In contrast to Friday's decision, House members yesterday voted by a three to one margin to nix the latest Senate budget, basically a rehash of SB 850. That's all Democrats and half the Republicans in the House! Speaking afterward, Majority leader Todd Eachus said: let’s be clear…what binds us together are the children, the children in…pre-K programs, the children in our basic education system…and children’s health. (Click here to see press conference with House leaders and the Governor.)

Each of his colleagues echoed this point, underscoring the extent to which they are hearing from child advocates. Yet our job isn't over: the House and Senate budget bills will now go to a conference committee to work out a compromise.

While negotiations take place it is especially important to keep the pressure on Senators who can be persuaded to support a budget that’s good for kids. Yesterday’s House action demonstrated this is what the majority of Pennsylvanians want. If Senators hear from us in large numbers they will ask their leaders to modify positions.

If you live or work in Bucks, Chester, Delaware or Eastern Montgomery County it is crucial that you contact your Senator listed below. (If you aren’t sure who your Senator is, click here and enter your zip code in the lower left.)

Tell your Senator:

* Pass a budget that funds education, child care, children’s health and other services for children at the levels requested by the Governor; and

* Enact a modest, temporary tax increase to fund these services during the recession.

(Click here http://www.capwiz.com/pccy/issues/alert/?alertid=13772151&type=ST to send an email from PCCY's web site.)

If you don’t live or work in these counties here are three things you can do:

1) Forward this email to friends, colleagues and family members in these areas and ask them to contact their Senators;

2) Participate in a phone bank to residents of these counties. PCCY will host a phone bank all day Thursday. We’ll provide training, telephone lists and snacks. (If you’re interested but can’t make these times, contact us at info@pccy.org.)

3) Thank your Representative if he or she voted to protect children and families in this year’s budget. Urge them to hold their ground during negotiations this week. (Click here http://www.capwiz.com/pccy/issues/alert/?alertid=13772076&type=ST to send a letter from PCCY’s web site.)

We have an important opportunity to extend Pennsylvania's progress funding early childhood education, K-12 education and children’s health. Call your state Senator now and tell him or her you're ready to pay a little more so that kids and families in our state can have a better future!

Senators:
Pileggi - Chester (part) and Delaware (part) Counties. (717) 787-4712
Erickson - Chester (part) and Delaware (part) Counties. (717) 787-1350
Greenleaf - Bucks (part) and Montgomery (part) Counties. (717) 787-6599
McIlhinney - Bucks (part) and Montgomery (part) Counties. (717) 787-7305
Rafferty - Berks (part), Chester (part) and Montgomery (part) Counties. (717) 787-1398
Tomlinson - Bucks (part) County. (717) 787-5072
Wonderling - Bucks (part), Lehigh (part), Montgomery (part) and Northampton (part) Counties (717) 787-3110

House Approved HB 1416 Last Night

For an update on the House budget vote last night -- one that's especially relevant to Southeastern Pennsylvania residents and what we should do next -- click here:

http://youngphillypolitics.com/pennsylvania_budget_sanity_versus_insanity#comment-32727 .

DON’T PLAY CHICKEN WITH OUR CHILDREN’S LIVES!
Pennsylvania General Assembly Gambles With The Future

As the General Assembly wrapped up its second week without a budget House Democrats, some frustrated with Republican opposition to a modest tax increase (for details see June 25 below) and others firmly opposed to an increase themselves, proposed on Thursday to vote SB 850 (a disasterous budget for Pennsylvania children and families -- for a list of cuts see July 1 post below) – out of committee early next week. This would allow the full House to vote on it.

This is a risky gambit and others have speculated on potential outcomes, so we won’t here. Suffice it to say this places the budget on a trajectory that goes from very bad to much worse.

Friday morning House Republicans countered with a proposal of their own to balance the budget without a tax increase. Using SB 850 as the basis, they would make a 12 percent across-the-board cut on top of $2 billion in cuts to education, child care, children’s health, violence prevention and other vital services the Senate has already stripped from the budget.

While this creates procedural confusion in the Capitol, for the rest of us there will be two options on the table Monday morning: SB 850, which makes $2 billion in cuts and gives the Governor the authority to cut another $1.3 billion himself; or the House Republican alternative, which starts with $2 billion in cuts; takes away another 12 percent on top of that; and relies on some WAM and Rainy Day Fund money to close the gap.

While we haven’t had time to analyze the full impact of this latest alternative here’s one tidbit: it would add 14,000 children to the statewide waiting list for subsidized child care. The waiting list already stands at 16,000 – a record high and twice what is was last summer. (For PCCY's recent report on the subsidy waiting list click here.)

On Monday the Governor is holding a press conference to discuss the impact on children and families. Advocates will be a presence in the Capitol every day next week (see below). Senator Vincent Hughes is holding what is expected to be a well-attended briefing on Monday afternoon in Philadelphia City Hall to discuss the impact of the budget on mental health services.

Whether you've been advocating for a children’s budget since last winter or you’re just hearing what’s at stake for the first time, NOW IS THE TIME TO TAKE A STAND!

If you have three minutes, call your state Senator and Representative. Tell them to:

*Pass a budget that maintains services for children and families;

*Enact a temporary tax increase to pay for these services; and

*Vote against SB 850!

(If you don’t know who your legislators are or need contact info click here and enter your zip code in the upper right. Calls are better than e-mails at this point, but e-mail if you must.)

If you have ten minutes, send this message to friends, colleagues and neighbors and urge them to the same thing.

If you have 15 minutes, go to the State Budget Tool Kit on PCCY’s home page http://www.pccy.org/ beginning Monday morning.

Download post cards and flyers.
Take them to meetings with you to distribute.
Post the flyers in public places.

If you have an hour and a half on Wednesday night and want to join a phone bank, email info@pccy.org and we’ll send you the time and location.

Check this blog, http://www.pccy.org/, PCCY’s facebook page and http://www.pennbpc.org/ for frequent updates.

Thanks for all the great work you're doing on behalf of the region’s kids!

________________________________________________________
Excerpts from a Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center (http://www.pennbpc.org/) e-mail of July 10:

Things are very bad and getting worse.

…on Monday July 13, the House will begin a process to move Senate Bill 850 onto the the floor for a vote, probably sometime the following week. Since SB 850, which cut $1.3 billion from the Governor's budget, is now somewhere between $1.4 and $1.7 billion out of balance, the Governor and House leaders may announce further cuts.

It is entirely possible that SB 850 could pass the legislature and the Governor could use his authority to make the final cuts necessary to balance the budget.

PBPC has been working with the Pennsylvania School Funding Campaign and many other groups to plan and organize events at the state capitol next week to bring home the message that the state budget should not be balanced with cuts and to promote the need for additional revenue.

We need you to show your support. Please join us if you can any day Monday through Friday of next week. Our goal is to keep pushing out a strong public message and to ensure that groups opposing budget cuts are more visible in the capitol.

We are looking for a big event on Friday and to schedule events for the week of July 20th. Please let me know if you can help.

Events:

Mon. July 13: 11:30 am Rotunda: Better Choices for PA: Faith Groups and Early Childhood
Tues. July 14: Noon Capitol Steps: Public Employee Unions 1 pm: Lower Rotunda: Better Choices for PA: Disabilities Rights Coalition
Wed. July 15: 11 am: Rotunda: Better Choices for PA: Workforce Development, Housing, Philadelphia Coalition for Essential Services
Thurs.July 16: 10 am: Penn Future and Environmental Groups 11 am: School Funding Campaign
Friday, July 17: 11 am: To Be Determined We have resources on our website, http://www.pennbpc.org/, and will be adding more early next week…

Senate Leaders Urge Service Cuts

Where Constituents Experience Greatest Need

Senate President Pro Tempore Joseph Scarnati represents four Pennsylvania counties – Cameron, Elk, Potter and Tioga – where constituents are coping with the highest unemployment rates statewide. Senate Appropriations Chair Jake Corman’s Centre County constituents are among those facing the highest poverty rates. Yet both leaders voted for Senate Bill 850 (see post below), which would strip crucial safety net programs from children and families, and are among the bill’s chief defenders.

Passed by the Senate in May, Senate Bill 850 makes deep cuts to early childhood education, children’s health insurance, basic and special education, autism services, mental health and mental retardation services for children, and public libraries.

In Scarnati’s district the unemployment rate ranges from 9.1 percent to 16.1 percent -- well above national and Pennsylvania averages. Over the past year it grew by a robust 6.6 percent. Corman’s district has a 14 percent poverty rate.

07.07.09 Abbreviated Poverty and Unemployment Chart

Although SB 850 failed to win House approval in June, many Senators still insist that it serve as the basis of budget negotiations with the House and Governor’s office.

If you live in Senator Scarnati’s or Corman’s districts – or even if you don’t -- how you suppose residents will cope with these cuts to basic services if the Senate version of the budget prevails?

How do you think residents will cope with the tax increase proposed by the Governor to maintain these services? For more information about the impact of proposed cuts in services and tax increase, see posts from June 25-July 1, below.

To post your remarks, click on ‘Comments’ below.

To send a letter to your legislators urging them to preserve services foir children and families, click here: http://capwiz.com/pccy/issues/alert/?alertid=13665631

Senate Bill 850 vs. Governor Rendell's Budget

The following table compares selected programs for children, youth and families that would be affected by cuts under SB 850 and the Governor’s recent budget proposal.

Please feel free to use this document when speaking to peers, co-workers, friends and legislators about the impact cuts to services would have on Pennsylvania's children, youth and families.

(To view the full-size table, click on the 'Toggle Full Screen' button in the upper right hand corner below.)

06 30 09 PA Senate Bill 850 v Rendell Budget

Here's more that we like from the Philadelphia Inquirer...Stay tuned for a comparrison of cuts to children's programs in SB 850 and the Governor's budget.





Don't go overboard with cuts
Many states are wisely raising taxes as part of their painful spending plans.


By Jon Shure


Jon Shure is deputy director of the State Fiscal Project of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities in Washington. For more information, see www.cbpp.org.
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/20090630_Don_t_go_overboardwith_cuts.html


Like most states, Pennsylvania and New Jersey will soon ring in a new year not with champagne and noisemakers, but with recession-battered financial plans that threaten the well-being of families and could further impede economic recovery.

The states' fiscal years begin tomorrow, and the budgets taking effect that day - or, in Pennsylvania's case, whenever lawmakers and the governor manage to agree on one - will be grimly austere. That's the result of perhaps the most daunting set of financial challenges since the Great Depression, which are likely to last through 2011.

The problem is the ripple effect of a national recession: People buy less and earn less, reducing what states get from income, sales, and corporate taxes, their main funding sources. Sadly, the current revenue declines are the largest in memory, while the need for the services the money pays for is rising dramatically.

Unlike the federal government, states can't print money or run deficits. So to meet today's needs and emerge strong when prosperity returns, they should use a balanced approach. Rather than tipping the balance too much toward cutting spending, they should also responsibly raise revenues and make the most of federal stimulus funds. By supporting income-tax increases, Govs. Rendell and Corzine are following the advisable game plan.

Counterproductive cuts
Those who argue for a cuts-only approach ignore the reality that spending reductions in Pennsylvania and New Jersey are already expected to go way beyond the budgetary "fat," carving into muscle and bone. Examples include halving support for at-risk kindergartners in Pennsylvania and slashing $100 million of nursing-home funding in New Jersey.

Cutting can be counterproductive. State budgets are dominated by spending on health and education - areas essential not only to residents' day-to-day well-being, but also to producing a skilled, healthy workforce and a strong economy down the road.

Besides the obvious impact on people's lives of cutting too deeply, there is the harm it can do to a state's economy. Consider that state spending goes mostly for salaries, contracts, purchasing, and financial assistance to people in need. That's economic stimulus - money spent quickly and close to home. Turning off that tap slows demand, making recessions worse.

To avoid a dangerous overreliance on spending cuts, more than half the states have raised taxes this year, or are considering doing so. History tells us that's prudent. Raising taxes does less harm to the economy than cutting spending does.

While big cuts take money out of circulation, at least some portion of tax increases - especially on the wealthiest households - comes from money that's parked in savings and isn't boosting economic activity. Past experience shows that the economic performance of states that raise taxes will be just as strong as those that don't - and, sometimes, even stronger.

Leaning on stimulus
The third leg of the stool needed to support upcoming state budgets is money from the federal stimulus package enacted in February. Of the $787 billion in the stimulus bill, some $140 billion will go to states over the next two years to help them avoid or at least lessen reductions of important services. It was never expected to be enough to prevent all budget cuts or tax increases, but it will, on average, close about 40 percent of the states' shortfalls.

One of the main things the federal money should help states buy is time. Many states went into this recession with their finances already weakened by ill-advised tax cuts in the 1990s and a failure to keep pace with rising needs in such areas as transportation infrastructure, environmental protection, and health care. It would be a good idea to use the bit of breathing space offered by the federal stimulus to better align revenue systems with public priorities.

The depressing reality is that, though the national economy seems to show tentative signs of rebounding, state budgets will likely be under significant pressure for at least the next two years. State tax revenues tend to recover more slowly than the economy as a whole, because unemployment eases only gradually. And the hole from which states must dig out this time is as deep as they come.

A new year with the word happy in front of it is still far off for the states. But making the right decisions now will help.

As most readers of Childwatch! already know, Pennsylvania’s revenue is now $3.2 billion below expectations due to the global economic crisis. Within the last ten days the Governor has taken two steps to close the budget gap: he proposed a temporary increase in the state’s Personal Income Tax (PIT) of half a percentage point and made further cuts to next year’s budget.

The latest round of cuts totals $500 million, with the Departments of Education and Public Welfare slated for the largest reductions. We won’t know which programs will be affected until the details are released to the public any day now. Here’s what we do know about the proposed tax increase:

• Pennsylvanians now pay 3.07 percent in Personal Income Tax (PIT). The Governor’s proposal would raise it to 3.57 percent for the next three years. At 3.57 percent, Pennsylvania would have the third lowest personal income tax rate in the country.

• The average Pennsylvania household earns $48,562 per year. The table below shows the impact on families at various income levels.
  

• More than one third of Pennsylvania households would be unaffected by an increase in the PIT. These are low-income households (earning below $34,400) that already receive a refund on the PIT through Pennsylvania’s Tax Forgiveness program and senior citizens whose primary income is Social Security.
  
• Pennsylvania has a successful track record of enacting temporary increases in the PIT. In 1983 under Governor Thornburgh (R) and 1991 under Governor Casey (D) the legislature increased the tax but included a ‘sunset’ date in the enabling legislation. The sunsets occurred on schedule.

• Pennsylvania’s proposed tax increase is consistent with actions taken by other states to reduce their deficits. At least 16 states have enacted tax increases this year. At least six increased the PIT and the same number increased sales tax. Seventeen states increased tobacco taxes, at least seven raised taxes on alcohol, and at least two have raised corporate taxes.

What You Can Do

Opponents of tax increases are well-organized and making their views known in the press, on the airwaves, via robocalls and on blogs.

State legislators from both sides of the aisle recognize that we cannot cut our way out of this financial crisis. The magnitude of the projected deficit makes a tax increase inevitable if the General Assembly is intent on fulfilling its legal obligation to pass a balanced budget.

Legislators are asking for ‘cover,’ urging constituents who care about preserving services for children to contact them and the news media.

Write to them. Tell them how cuts approved by the Senate – including 50 percent reductions in state-funded Head Start and Pre-K, the denial of child care subsidy to 7,700 families, reducing the number of children enrolled in CHIP by 12,000, and a slowdown in Basic Education funding -- would affect you, your family and community.

Let them know you would be willing to support a nominal tax increase to maintain these vital programs for Pennsylvania’s kids!



Contact information:

Legislators: http://www.pccy.org/ or http://www.legis.state.pa.us/

Letters to the editor:

• Philadelphia Inquirer: Inquirer.Letters@phillynews.com
• Daily News: views@phillynews.com

And don’t forget community newspapers!




Speaking of letters to the editor... here are a few recent ones that give us hope:

Posted on Tue, Jun. 23, 2009 (Philadelphia Inquirer)
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/20090623_Letters__GOP_plan_would_hurt_Philadelphia_schools.html

Letters: GOP plan would hurt Philadelphia schools

As a proud parent of a student in the Philadelphia school system, I have been pleased with the upward direction of the schools. But the recent gains the district has achieved depend on continued resources.

I am concerned that the Republicans' bare-bones education plan would reverse recent gains. The plan would eliminate summer school programs and limit alternative-education services for at-risk students. It would reduce school police coverage.

And it would increase class size. Superintendent Arlene Ackerman's plan to reduce kindergarten classes to a maximum of 23 would be killed, as the limit would be increased to 33. Instead of reducing class size in grades one to three to 24 or 26 students, it would increase it to 33. And class size in grades four through eight would increase to 35.

In the famous Peanuts comic strip, Charlie Brown tries to kick the football held by Lucy, who pulls it away at the last moment. Just as the Philadelphia schools' Charlie Brown is ready to kick the ball through the uprights of a strong education system and commonwealth, please do not pull away the ball of education funding.

Michael A. Carrier, Philadelphia

Posted on June 20, 2009 (Philadelphia Inquirer)
http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_action=doc&p_docid=129011DD049C30E8&p_docnum=2

Letters: Can't cut services that help the needy

Most thinking people would agree that we need to get the waste out of government, and stop corruption, friendship deals, use of public dollars for political purposes, and hiring of unqualified pols to assess property. No argument there.

But what services exactly do you think the state should cut in this year's budget? Services to autistic children? The Senate's proposal does that already. Services to persons who need mental-health and retardation programs? The Senate proposal does that, too. Slash Head Start? Children's health care? Cut library services in half? Early childhood programs? All cut in the Senate bill.

The Senate's proposal will make our huge waiting lists grow by leaps and bounds. We shouldn't forget that taxes are the price we pay to live in a civilized society.

Gerry Kaufman, Philadelphia

Posted on June 22, 2009 (Philadelphia Inquirer) http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/48757627.html

Letters: Better-funded schools are a crime deterrent
When talk from Harrisburg heats up about rolling back plans to address underfunded public schools, police chiefs like me take notice. We know what happens to a dream deferred, what happens to the undereducated, unemployed, and poor, who have limited options in life. They help fill our jails and state prisons.

Yes, revenues are tight this year - for corporations, municipalities, and individual homeowners. But what's the cost to communities like Upper Darby if we retreat on public education now?

High school dropouts are eight times more likely to be in jail or prison than people who complete high school. A study by economics professor Lance Lochner concluded that "a one-year increase in the average level of schooling in a community is associated with an almost 30 percent decrease in the murder and assault rates."

Imagine the impact of that on Upper Darby, home to one of the most underfunded school districts in the state. Pennsylvania ranked 44th in the nation for its contribution to public education; funding reform should not wait another day. The prison population certainly isn't.

Michael Chitwood, Superintendent of Police, Upper Darby

...Meanwhile, Governor Rendell has made a slew of appearances in suburban Philadelphia to promote the importance of funding children and families and to emphasize the only way this can happen is if the legislature supports a temporary tax increase.

Three weeks ago he appeared in Delaware County to underscore the importance of staying the course with education funding, which the Senate budget would reduce by hundreds of millions of dollars. Over the weekend he spoke in Montgomery County about cuts to autism services if the Senate budget stands. Yesterday he returned to Delaware County to talk about the impact of cuts to CHIP – the children’s health insurance program. You can see a report on KYW’s web site, http://www.kyw1060.com/Rendell---Child-Health-Care-May-Be-Cut-to-Balance-/4669206 or on http://www.philly.com/.

Simultaneously hundreds of people gathered in Philadelphia’s LOVE Park to urge legislators to preserve more than $12 million in the state budget for youth violence prevention programs. Greater Philadelphia Urban Affairs Coalition’s Sharmain Matlock-Turner explained that funding for a variety of programs including mentoring, chess, and summer camp with life-skills coaching are all at stake. Read more about it here: http://www.kyw1060.com/Phila--Protesters-Demand-Money-for-Antiviolence-Pr/4667799 .

What do YOU think?