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As special interest groups began launching attacks out of Washington, D.C., I started wondering what alternate reality they have been living in when it comes to the Pennsylvania state budget.
The same cookie-cutter mailers have gone out against Republicans all across the state, simply changing the name and picture in the attack ad; however, they are woefully disingenuous on presenting the truth of what really has been going on in the commonwealth and regarding my record as a legislator.
Let me start by asking this: If you asked your employer for a $5-an-hour raise and they gave you a $4-an-hour raise, would you then say that your salary was cut by a dollar? Obviously not; but that is exactly what is happening now. A $400 million increase in education is being sold as a $95 million cut by the governor in an effort to bring back campaign talking points that he used against former Gov. Tom Corbett.
Gov. Wolf proposed a $500 million increase in education, and I voted for a compromise budget proposal that increased education funding by over $400 million. On top of this, we still made the actuarially required pension obligation payment, an increase of $567 million from last year, and all of this without broad-based income and/or sales tax increases.
Maybe it would have been truthful to tell people that this same proposal got bipartisan support and puts historic increases in public education, far surpassing the “Corbett education cuts” by well over a billion dollars.
Maybe it would have been truthful to mention that Gov. Wolf wanted to throw out the new unanimously adopted education funding formula and instead create an entirely new and disproportionate one solely focused on giving the Philadelphia school district an additional $100 million handout, while people in our region struggle to keep their homes.
Maybe it would have been truthful to explain that when given the opportunity to enact the House Bill/Senate Bill 76 proposal to eliminate your school property taxes, Gov. Wolf’s administration had to break the tie in the Senate and voted against it, killing the bill and preventing millions of struggling Pennsylvania homeowners from getting the tax relief they need.
Maybe it would have been truthful to include that I have been a co-sponsor of an equitable severance tax on the natural gas industry for quite some time now, while preserving the Marcellus Shale Legacy Fund to protect our environment and region for decades to come.
Maybe it would have been truthful to let people know that the governor’s campaign promise of “a billion dollars for education” from natural gas companies would only bring in tens of millions, and that’s according to his own office. His extraction tax on natural gas would not cover the cost of his spending proposals without other massive tax increases; so when it has been time to vote, he has consistently tied his severance tax proposal to raises in income taxes and small business taxes that would add up to a 21 percent increase across the board.
Maybe it would have been truthful to state that I broke with party ranks and even voted to bring Gov. Wolf’s budget up for a full vote. Although I didn’t support his budget and didn’t vote for it, I did vote to allow it to come up for consideration, not the obstructionist tone this group wants you to believe.
Maybe it would have been truthful to inform people that I have been one of eight representatives who hasn’t taken a paycheck dating all the way back to June when this impasse first started.
Maybe these facts would have been good to include in these mailers; however, this would not fit the partisan narrative these special interest groups want to create. We have all heard it too many times: Don’t let the truth get in the way of a good story. It’s clear they haven’t.