Causer Supports 2008-09 Budget as Reasonable Compromise
The Bradford Area School District will see a 6 percent increase in its Basic Education Funding Subsidy for 2008-09 from the state, while other districts in the area will receive three percent.
These figures were provided Friday by State Representative Marty Causer after the Legislature passed the state budget.
School District Basic Education Funding Subsidy for 2008-09 Percentage Increase over 2007-08 Funding:
Austin Area: $1.16 million, 3 percent
Bradford Area: $12.25 million, 6 percent
Cameron County: $5.17 million, 3 percent
Coudersport Area: $4.03 million, 3 percent
Galeton Area: $2.02 million, 3 percent
Keystone Central: $19 million, 3 percent
Northern Potter: $4.12 million, 3 percent
Oswayo Valley: $3.46 million, 3 percent
Otto-Eldred: $5.38 million, 3 percent
Port Allegany: $6.93 million, 3 percent
Smethport Area: $6.16 million, 3 percent
Causer voted in favor of the $28.26 billion plan that represents a 3.98 percent increase in spending over last year's budget but falls below the anticipated 4.4 percent rate of inflation for the 2008-09 fiscal year.
"House and Senate Republicans were able to work together to negotiate a plan that spends more than $100 million less than what the governor and House Democrats were pushing," Causer said. "Just as importantly, this budget includes no new taxes or fees, and we were able to stop the administration from raiding the Rainy Day Fund to pay for the governor's pet projects.
"Given the state of the national economy, and a recent downturn in state revenue collections, I believe it was vital to protect the Rainy Day fund in case we need it in the future," he added.
The Rainy Day Fund is a sort of savings account designed to help balance the budget in the event of a drastic downturn in the economy. Given that the state ended the 2007-08 fiscal year with a $167 million surplus, Causer said any use of the existing Rainy Day Fund balance would have been irresponsible.
In addition to getting the governor to agree to leave the Rainy Day Fund alone, lawmakers also successfully worked with the administration to make across-the-board cuts of 1.3 percent of all non-mandated budget line items. That cut more than $500 million from the original budget proposal. Some of that money was then shifted to items that had been zero-funded by the governor, including the popular and very effective Science in Motion program.
"I am very pleased that we were not only able to restore funding to Science in Motion but also to increase its funding to $2.7 million, an increase of $162,000 over last year," Causer said. "This will go a long way toward ensuring students in our rural school districts get the very best science education opportunities."
Another positive in this year's budget was a change in the education funding proposal originally offered by Gov. Ed Rendell. Instead of sending a lot of money to the Philadelphia School District and giving many rural schools just 1.5 percent more than they got last year, the budget passed today ensures every district gets at least a 3 percent increase in basic education funding. That allowed an increase in funding to more than half (238) of the state's 501 school districts.
"I felt strongly that the governor's plan failed to provide a fair level of support to many of our rural schools," Causer said. "I believe we still need to do more to ensure our rural students continue to get the educational opportunities they need and deserve, but this year's change was a step in the right direction."
State Representative Kathy Rapp said the 3 percent increase is "at least a better increase than the (1.5 percent) the rural districts were getting" when the budget process started.
"I'm very pleased to have that victory," she said.
Causer also noted that while the governor's original budget proposal called for nearly $4.4 billion in borrowing, Republicans negotiated that down to $2.9 billion and targeted the funding toward infrastructure improvement efforts, such as roads, bridges, water and sewer projects that are important to enhancing the state's economic competitiveness.
These figures were provided Friday by State Representative Marty Causer after the Legislature passed the state budget.
School District Basic Education Funding Subsidy for 2008-09 Percentage Increase over 2007-08 Funding:
Austin Area: $1.16 million, 3 percent
Bradford Area: $12.25 million, 6 percent
Cameron County: $5.17 million, 3 percent
Coudersport Area: $4.03 million, 3 percent
Galeton Area: $2.02 million, 3 percent
Keystone Central: $19 million, 3 percent
Northern Potter: $4.12 million, 3 percent
Oswayo Valley: $3.46 million, 3 percent
Otto-Eldred: $5.38 million, 3 percent
Port Allegany: $6.93 million, 3 percent
Smethport Area: $6.16 million, 3 percent
Causer voted in favor of the $28.26 billion plan that represents a 3.98 percent increase in spending over last year's budget but falls below the anticipated 4.4 percent rate of inflation for the 2008-09 fiscal year.
"House and Senate Republicans were able to work together to negotiate a plan that spends more than $100 million less than what the governor and House Democrats were pushing," Causer said. "Just as importantly, this budget includes no new taxes or fees, and we were able to stop the administration from raiding the Rainy Day Fund to pay for the governor's pet projects.
"Given the state of the national economy, and a recent downturn in state revenue collections, I believe it was vital to protect the Rainy Day fund in case we need it in the future," he added.
The Rainy Day Fund is a sort of savings account designed to help balance the budget in the event of a drastic downturn in the economy. Given that the state ended the 2007-08 fiscal year with a $167 million surplus, Causer said any use of the existing Rainy Day Fund balance would have been irresponsible.
In addition to getting the governor to agree to leave the Rainy Day Fund alone, lawmakers also successfully worked with the administration to make across-the-board cuts of 1.3 percent of all non-mandated budget line items. That cut more than $500 million from the original budget proposal. Some of that money was then shifted to items that had been zero-funded by the governor, including the popular and very effective Science in Motion program.
"I am very pleased that we were not only able to restore funding to Science in Motion but also to increase its funding to $2.7 million, an increase of $162,000 over last year," Causer said. "This will go a long way toward ensuring students in our rural school districts get the very best science education opportunities."
Another positive in this year's budget was a change in the education funding proposal originally offered by Gov. Ed Rendell. Instead of sending a lot of money to the Philadelphia School District and giving many rural schools just 1.5 percent more than they got last year, the budget passed today ensures every district gets at least a 3 percent increase in basic education funding. That allowed an increase in funding to more than half (238) of the state's 501 school districts.
"I felt strongly that the governor's plan failed to provide a fair level of support to many of our rural schools," Causer said. "I believe we still need to do more to ensure our rural students continue to get the educational opportunities they need and deserve, but this year's change was a step in the right direction."
State Representative Kathy Rapp said the 3 percent increase is "at least a better increase than the (1.5 percent) the rural districts were getting" when the budget process started.
"I'm very pleased to have that victory," she said.
Causer also noted that while the governor's original budget proposal called for nearly $4.4 billion in borrowing, Republicans negotiated that down to $2.9 billion and targeted the funding toward infrastructure improvement efforts, such as roads, bridges, water and sewer projects that are important to enhancing the state's economic competitiveness.
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