Status Quo Budgeting Just Doesn’t Work

February 18, 2020

Since Oct. 31 of last year, the General Fund has been operating with a negative balance. Almost every day since Halloween, the Commonwealth has been forced to borrow from itself to pay its own bills. According to Treasurer Joe Torsella’s office, Pennsylvania has spent $49 billion and only brought in $46 billion in revenue. In short, the state is operating with a deficit of $3 billion. All while the Independent Fiscal Office reported Pennsylvania collected $556.9 million more than what was collected last fiscal year.

The Legislature heard no plans to fill the deficit from Gov. Tom Wolf during his budget address. Rather than working to manage our finances or find common ground with the legislature, we heard a wish list of policies which will damage our economy and exacerbate our financial situation.

In order to meet the state’s constitutional requirement for a balanced budget, the governor utilizes tools of fiscal evasion to defend the status quo. His own budget proposal admits to overspending by nearly $600 million during this fiscal year alone.

On top of the governor’s unilateral spending binge, we are seeing increased reports of financial mismanagement and waste within the administration. Some glaring examples of the administration’s financial failures:

	(1)	$5 million in overspending for increased borrowing costs due to the negative balances in the General Fund.
	(2)	The purchase of firearms and ammunition the Office of Inspector General employees were not allowed to use. This cost taxpayers $160,000. This decision was rewarded by the governor with a $380,000 increase in their next budget.
	(3)	In 2019, two whistleblowers filed suit against Cheney University for raiding millions appropriated for student scholarships. Cheney raided these funds in order to pay for its increasing budget deficit caused by mismanagement and a more than 50% drop in enrollment over the past decade. Wolf’s solution to this problem is to borrow $45 million over the next three years to send to the state higher education system in exchange for it forgiving over $40 million Cheney owes the system.
	(4)	$89 million in overspending by the Department of Corrections budget, despite bipartisan criminal justice reform policies, a declining prison population and closing prisons.

These examples are endemic to how the Wolf administration approaches taxpayer money and state finances. Instead of managing our budget and making tough decisions, the governor opts to increase spending and pay for it by either more borrowing or trying to take more of the taxpayer’s hard-earned money. If adopted, the governor’s budget would increase state spending by more than $7.6 billion.
I am again calling on the General Assembly to reject the status quo the governor’s budget represents and move a series of financial reform bills to address our growing budgetary problems:
 

	•	House Bill 1861 and Senate Bill 885 would amend the constitution to require any supplemental spending be voted on separately. This would prevent spending increases being hidden in prior fiscal years.
	•	House Bill 1988 would transfer millions back into the General Fund to improve our cash flow and prevent the Commonwealth from having to borrow from itself to pay its bills.
	•	House Bill 1989 would significantly increase the amount of money the Commonwealth has in its Rainy-Day Fund by requiring surplus funds to be saved and not spent by the administration.
	•	House Bill 1990 would establish a collaborative budgeting process to foster cooperation and end partisan games.
	•	House Bill 1991 would amend the constitution to prevent future fiscal evasion by ending the practice of moving money out of the General Fund.
	•	House Bill 1316, known as the Taxpayer Protection Act, would prevent government spending from increasing above the rate of inflation.
	•	House Bill 93 would overhaul the Commonwealth’s outdated budget process to require the use of performance-based and zero-based budgeting.

By enacting these bills, the Commonwealth can end the status quo which has caused our deficit to grow and our credit rating to drop. Rather than forcing taxpayers to foot the bill for Harrisburg’s insatiable appetite for spending, we can manage the people’s money in a responsible and respectful manner.

Representative Seth Grove
196th District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Greg Gross
717.260.6374
ggross@pahousegop.com
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