Hughes: Republican Budget Will Result in Massive State Lay-Offs
HARRISBURG, May 6, 2009 – State Sen. Vincent Hughes (D-Phila.) denounced the Republican Budget plan today, as it was voted on in the Senate today.
“There are a few things that are clear when we look closely at this spending plan,” Hughes said. “The cuts in the general operating costs across the board will result in massive lay-offs of state and local workers.”
Under the spending plan, Senate Bill 850, it is estimated that expected layoffs of state employees would reach 3,500. Cuts to basic education, under this plan, would mean 4,000 staffers in local school districts would be laid off.
“For way too long, state employees have been threatened with layoffs,” Hughes said. “They have been threatened with wage freezes and loss of benefits. They have been on the front line and in the trenches doing the work of government.
“If we enact this plan, thousands of state workers who provide comfort to the sick and the infirmed, grant approvals for work, safeguard our food and water, keep our state parks and our citizens safe will be shown the unemployment line.”
In his February budget address, Gov. Rendell proposed cutting 350 line items and eliminating a hundred more. The proposed cuts in the Republican budget cut $1.7 billion deeper than the governor’s spending plan.
“These cuts would drastically reverse job growth, reduce job creation and lead to another wave of massive lay-offs,” Hughes said. “Not only will these workers and their families suffer, but Pennsylvania’s economy will suffer.”
Hughes added that the Republican budget would swell reliance on state-funded programs that serve the unemployed, the uninsured and the growing pool of families struggling to make ends meet.
Hughes also discussed cuts to the PA CHIP program, which provides health insurance to Pennsylvania children, most of which come from low-income families.
Under this spending plan, state funds for CHIP would be limited to $86.9 million. This would force CHIP enrollment to decrease by 9,588 children from the current total of 191,059 children, due to limited state funds.
The reduction in available state funds from the Governor’s proposal would result in approximately 24,000 fewer children being covered by CHIP than in Gov. Rendell’s February 4 proposal.
“How can we, in good conscience, remove any child – let alone the children that need these benefits most – the low-income child – from CHIP rolls?” Hughes said. “It is a cruel way to balance the budget. It is a budget balanced on the backs of the vulnerable.
“We owe our constituents more than a “fly-by-night” budget, sloppily crafted, that doesn’t look out for the best interest of the people.”
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