Gov. Tom Corbett commented June 30 on the $29.1 billion spending plan for the 2014-15 fiscal year passed by the General Assembly:

"We are elected to serve the best interests of the people of Pennsylvania. Leadership is not always about the popular choices; it's about difficult choices.

"The budget I received tonight makes significant investments in our common priorities of education, jobs and human services. It does not address all the difficult choices that still need to be made.

"It leaves pensions, one of the largest expenses to the commonwealth and our school districts, on the table, leaving the weight on Pennsylvania taxpayers and perpetuating the tug of war over state funding every single year.

"Pension costs are consuming more than 60 cents of every new dollar of general fund revenues.

"For the single parent who struggles to pay the bills every day, for the child going to school who deserves a quality education, for the elderly couple living on a fixed income, I will continue to fight for pension reform and real relief for Pennsylvania's taxpayers.

"Every dollar saved through pension reform is a dollar we have to invest in Pennsylvania's children, to reduce waiting lists for much-needed services for our most vulnerable, and to make improvements to our public safety system.

"I will continue to work with the legislature toward meaningful pension reform. I am withholding signing the budget passed by the General Assembly while I deliberate its impact on the people of Pennsylvania."

State Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, R-134th

"This is my third budget vote since arriving in the Legislature, and for the third time in a row, I am pleased to announce we have passed an on-time, balanced budget that contains no tax increases," said state Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, R-134th. "We were able to do so by focusing on the core functions of state government and clearly identifying our top priorities.

"This budget invests $10.5 billion in K-12 education – a record level of state funding. This represents an increase of $314 million over last year. Special education has been increased by $20 million, the first increase for such programs in six years, and pre-kindergarten programs saw a boost of $10 million.

"We've also been able to increase funding to help our state's most vulnerable citizens. Resources for people living with autism will see $2.7 million in additional funding. Programs for those who have physical disabilities were increased by $22 million, and the Community Waiver Program for Pennsylvanians with intellectual disabilities was increased by almost $40 million.

"This budget protects taxpayers and prevents job creators from facing additional barriers to growth and expansion in the commonwealth."

State Rep. Gary Day, R-187th

Education continues to be a key focus for lawmakers as more than $10.5 billion in state funding will be invested in the Commonwealth's schools, Rep. Gary Day, R-187th said, upon voting in favor of the new $29.09 billion state budget for the 2014-15 fiscal year.

"This new state budget rightfully prioritizes education spending, by investing a record-setting level toward schools at all levels – prekindergarten, primary, secondary, special, higher and vocational-technical," said Day, a member of the House Appropriations Committee. "Education still encompasses the second largest chunk of state spending and shows our commitment to ensuring that our children receive the highest-quality instruction that we can provide."

The $29.09 billion budget includes a $10.5 billion investment in education. Included in the special education line item is an increase of $20 million, the first bump in six years. The education budget also includes $200 million for the Ready to Learn Block Grant program, which gives schools more flexibility in where to direct state resources as a way to support academic achievement.

Locally, the school districts in the 187th District will receive the following state support:

Brandywine Heights Area School District $7,636,077, an increase of $375,208 or 5.2 percent.

Fleetwood Area School District $10,713,931, an increase of $638,315, or 6.3 percent.

Kutztown Area School District $6,615,646, an increase of $339,528 or 5.4 percent.

Northwestern Lehigh School District $10,178,285, an increase of $431,223 or 4.4 percent.

Parkland School District $21,719,818, an increase of $1,722,443 or 8.6 percent.

The budget also sees a funding increase for human services programs, helping to reduce the waiting list for services for people with intellectual disabilities.

The final state budget, passed on time by the state House for the fourth year in a row, includes no new taxes and reasonably manages the state's assets to maximize every dollar.

State Sen. David G. Argall, R-29th

State Sen. David G. Argall, R-29th, offered the following statement regarding his affirmative vote for the state budget proposal (House Bill 2328) for Fiscal Year 2014-15:

"We are dealing with a limited number of hard-earned tax dollars. When presented with the option to cut spending or increase taxes, the people I represent overwhelmingly told me not to raise their taxes. This budget reflects that opinion."

Director of Pa.

Budget and Policy Center Sharon Ward

Sharon Ward, director of the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center, made the following statement in response to the Pennsylvania Senate passage of House Bill 2328, the General Appropriations bill:

"The budget adopted by the Senate relies on revenue estimates that are no more than magical thinking. It leaves a ticking time bomb that will explode before the year is out. The Pennsylvania Constitution requires a balanced budget. This budget does not meet that obligation."

"The budget, once again, lets the gas drillers avoid paying a tax they pay in every other major gas producing state a tax that could provide sustainable, growing revenue to truly balance the budget and support public schools."

"Of all the magical thinking in the budget, the most troubling is the claim that the budget does not raise taxes. The school board members who have had to increase property taxes time and time again as the commonwealth fails to provide for public schools know better. And so do local taxpayers."

The Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center states it is a non-partisan policy research project that provides independent, credible analysis on state tax, budget and related policy matters, with attention to the impact of current or proposed policies on working families.

State Rep. Mike Schlossberg, D-132nd

State Rep. Mike Schlossberg, D-132nd, assailed the 2014-15 budget being muscled through by the Republican-controlled legislature and Gov. Tom Corbett as irresponsive, unfair and fiscally irresponsible.

Schlossberg said he will vote against the likely state spending plan that attempts to wallpaper over the abysmal failure of Corbett and the Republicans, who rung up a $1.5 billion deficit that will likely swell to $3.5 billion or more next year.

"While this governor loves to talk about fiscal responsibility, the truth is he is resorting to one-time funding gimmicks – like diverting to the general fund money from smaller funds historically dedicated to specific programs – in a desperate attempt to look credible," Schlossberg said. "In Gov. Corbett's fourth budget, the best he can do is keep protecting his corporate benefactors from paying their fair share, prove once again he doesn't care about skyrocketing school property taxes, and blame former Gov. Ed Rendell for problems of his own making."

Schlossberg said the Corbett/Republican legacy of governance is best epitomized by the gutting of the Allentown School District, which has lost 400 teachers – 20 percent of its complement – due to slashed state subsidy.

"Across the state, 20,000 fewer people are working in public education than the day Corbett took office, while this year more than three-fourths of our school districts plan to raise local property taxes," Schlossberg said. "The saying on Pennsylvania's license plates used to be, 'You've Got a Friend in Pennsylvania.' In light of this budget, perhaps we should issue a new license plate for students, teachers, middle-class taxpayers, seniors and full-time workers without health care: 'You Don't Have a Friend in Tom Corbett.'"

Schlossberg said insuring an additional 500,000 Pennsylvanians for health care using readily available federal dollars, relieving property owners' tax burden by restoring $1 billion in Corbett-led education cuts and ensuring tax fairness by closing corporate loopholes all Democratic priorities – have been shunned by Republicans who've focused instead on voter suppression, lottery privatization, local zoning pre-emption and marriage discrimination.

"There cannot be a starker contrast than our two competing visions of what's best for Pennsylvania," Schlossberg said. "While Democrats' practical policies and sensible solutions have been shunned for four years running by Republican majorities who could care less what we think, their own agenda has placed Pennsylvania 48th out of 50 in U.S. job growth despite doling out $1.2 billion in corporate tax breaks."

Schlossberg said the middle class, workers, seniors, veterans and the disabled deserve fairer treatment in budget formulation, which under the current administration and majorities has tilted too heavily toward the GOP's corporate pals and wealthy supporters.

"What they've presented us this year is the gift that will keep on giving: A structural budget deficit that will have further disastrous ramifications for schools, the economy and the middle class," Schlossberg said. "They have given new meaning to the term 'pay it forward' – and we'll be digging deeper into our pockets to do just that in coming years."

Schlossberg also noted a day of reckoning is quickly coming for Pennsylvanians.

"Multiple Republican leaders have noted the longer we wait to deal with our structural budget deficit, the steeper the price to pay will be," he said. "We have a fiscal day of reckoning coming, because you cannot use one-time revenue forever. I have a sincere question to my friends who supported this budget: What on Earth are we going to do next year?"