HARRISBURG- October 7th, 2015 – State Senator Vincent Hughes, Democratic Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, released the following statement in response to the Pennsylvania House’s negative vote on Governor Wolf’s revenue package:

“Republican lawmakers have once again showed their unwillingness to compromise. Governor Tom Wolf has compromised on every issue but that is not enough for GOP lawmakers. It’s clear that the extremist wing of the Republican Party has taken over in Pennsylvania. Now, the GOP’s unreasonableness threatens to shut down Pennsylvania state government just like in Washington, DC.

“Governor Wolf has offered a plan that would increase education funding, restore funding for human service programs, provide a small tax on Marcellus Shale to provide some level of tax fairness, and implement a historic tax reduction and expansion of the rent rebate program. His plan also fixed the multi-billion dollar structural deficit that was inherited from the previous administration. However, the Republicans have decided to use another budget gimmick to keep Pennsylvania going down the same path that has led us to financial ruin.

“Let’s be clear: Today’s vote was an insincere effort by the Republicans as they refused to allow for a spending plan to be offered. It’s very hard to get votes for a tax plan when lawmakers are not also given the opportunity to vote on how the money would be spent.

“This is unacceptable. Republicans must come back to the negotiating table and compromise to get a fair budget done as soon as possible.”

Senator Vincent Hughes represents the 7th Senatorial District, which includes parts of Philadelphia and Montgomery County. He is also the Democratic Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Contact:
Ben Waxman, Press Secretary
Office: 717-787-7112 / Cell: 215-266-4598