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For Immediate Release
May 4, 2009
Contact: David Atkinson
 (717) 787-6535

Smucker Favors State Spending Cuts To Solve Serious Budget Shortfall 

Historically, when Pennsylvania encountered severe budget difficulties, higher state taxes and one-time spending fixes have been the eventual solution.  This year, state Senator Lloyd Smucker and his Republican colleagues are taking a very different approach – cutting state spending to bring the budget in line with expected revenue. 

"People are being hit hard by an extremely tough economy.  There is widespread sentiment that enough is enough.  Families do not want an increase in state taxes to compound their financial difficulties," Smucker said.   

Smucker voted in the Senate Appropriations Committee to support a $27.3 billion state budget, which represents a substantial reduction from the spending levels authorized for the current fiscal year ending June 30th. 

"The only way to prevent this from being a two-year or three-year problem is to control spending now.  With the deficit expected to top $3 billion, that means sharp reductions in nearly every area of the budget, to get a balanced budget for the coming year and one that is sustainable without tax hikes in the years after that," he pointed out. 

"The dreadful April revenue numbers, with every state tax falling short of estimates, show that even if the economy is starting to turn around, it will be a while before revenues pick up.  We cannot afford a budget based on false optimism.  And we cannot afford one based on higher state taxes, because that would make it much more difficult for Pennsylvania’s economy to recover," Smucker stated.

"There is not enough money around to pay for the budget plan Governor Rendell presented back in February.  The budget we are working with includes his cuts and hundreds of millions more in spending reductions, to bring it into fiscally responsible balance," he concluded.