By State Reps. Joanna McClinton, Matt Bradford and Jordan Harris
This General Assembly has a unique opportunity. For the first time in decades, legislators have the ability to make a real difference in shaping the future of our commonwealth. After decades of financial challenges and recurring budget shortfalls, we have a chance to do right by Pennsylvanians -- especially our youngest Pennsylvanians -- and make the investments that, just a few years ago, would have seemed impossible.
Pennsylvania is finally on very solid financial ground. In the month of April alone, tax revenues were $1.8 billion over estimate, bringing the year-to-date state surplus to over $4 billion. That doesn’t even include the historic $2.87 billion in state rainy day savings or an additional $2.16 billion in federal stimulus left over from the American Rescue Plan.
In February, the governor proposed a significant $1.55 billion investment in our shared pursuit to fix our unfair, inadequate school funding system. Pennsylvania is ranked a dismal 45th in the nation in state funding of public education. We force districts to rely heavily on local property taxpayers to keep afloat. Naturally, this dynamic creates gross inequities between those zip codes that can raise school funds and those that cannot. It’s plainly unfair and morally wrong – not just for our children and educators, but for hardworking property taxpayers, especially seniors, who simply cannot afford to shoulder the burden.
We in the General Assembly have the power to change all of this by enacting Gov. Wolf’s education budget proposal in full. And we can do it using only a fraction of the recurring tax dollars available. Not only is this investment a real opportunity to fix our schools, but also to lower property taxes. This would put dollars directly back into the pockets of millions of overburdened property taxpayers and grow our communities.
It is not only shortsighted, but indefensible, to continue to hoard resources and say “no,” as the Republican-led majority has done. As individuals, we are taught to invest excess money so we can one day see a return on that investment. Why would we treat our collective state budget surplus any differently? And what better investment could we make than a smart investment in our commonwealth’s students and communities?
Let’s work together this year to finally fix the disastrous education funding path we’ve been going down for too long. Let’s finally do right by our children, our seniors, and our communities. Contact your state legislator today and tell them it’s time to finally put these recurring tax surpluses to work for Pennsylvania’s future.
Rep. Joanna McClinton is Democratic Leader in the House of Representatives; Rep. Matt Bradford is the House Democratic Appropriations Chair; and Rep. Jordan Harris is House Democratic Whip.
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