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FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE Armstrong Urges Caution, Restraint On State Spending While state officials from Governor Rendell on down are publicly showing enthusiasm over proposed spending increases and program expansions, there is nothing in the mid-year revenue numbers to justify their optimism, according to Senate Appropriations Chairman Gib Armstrong. "Strengthening the state economy is the best way to improve the outlook on the state budget. And the best contribution we can make to the economic climate is to control state spending and rein in the continual expansion of state government. Pennsylvania has proved over the years that just passing bigger and bigger state budgets does not build the economy or encourage robust job growth," Armstrong said. "Any outside fiscal or economic analyst taking a look at the budget situation would recommend a serious slowdown in state spending in contrast to recent years. We need to hit the brakes hard," he emphasized. "Coming off the election, a lot of people seem to want to make a splash by pushing up spending or adding programs. Increasing overall state spending much beyond a cost-of-living increase sends the wrong message to taxpayers and is the wrong thing to do to the state economy. There is not much glamour in slicing spending or saying 'no' to new initiatives, but that is the direction we need to go in this year," Armstrong pointed out. "Even more, there is a lurking problem in the form of substantial carryover obligations not fully funded in the current budget. Once these are factored in, there will not be a lot more money for new spending. So this is a crucial year to pay more attention to the taxpayers, and less to the interest groups pushing for accelerated spending," he stated. "If the Governor were to make a series of program cuts that he knew were going to stick, then there might be some room for expanding a few key programs. But the track record of the four budgets he has submitted is that he cuts items that he knows will later be restored. The 'savings' are simply a political illusion, not something anyone can build a responsible budget around," Armstrong concluded.
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