Dear Friends,

The 2011-12 budget could be signed into law within days, and a grave injustice will be committed against the taxpayers of the Commonwealth if a critical change is not made beforehand.

This budget is set to obligate Pennsylvania taxpayers to permanently sustain a standard of living for welfare recipients that had been made 'temporarily' possible by one-time Federal stimulus dollars. AFP-PA is urgently calling on the Legislature to examine this major public policy issue before voting on the budget. We strongly urge you to do the same. Click HERE to find your legislator. Reach out and insist that, before they cast their vote, they take a good hard look at the justification for burdening the taxpayer with nearly 30% more in state spending on Public Welfare.

It took former Governor Ed Rendell eight years to boost the taxpayer burden for Public Welfare by $2.4 Billion dollars. If the budget is passed as presented, Governor Corbett and this Legislature will accomplish an increase in the same amount, $2.4 Billion, in less than one year! When Rendell took office, the taxpayer obligation to Public Welfare was $6.1 Billion. By the time he left, the taxpayer’s obligation had risen to $8.6 Billion. Governor Corbett is proposing $11.2 Billion. That’s a 27% leap in state spending on welfare over last year—and the reason there is a proposed $27.3 Billion rather than a $24.9 Billion dollar budget.

Last year, $25.2 Billion dollars was spent on Public Welfare in Pennsylvania, but Pennsylvania taxpayers were only obligated for $8.8 Billion of that spending. The rest came in the form of assistance from the Federal government. Pennsylvania received $16.4 Billion from the Federal Government last year, almost $2 Billion of which were one-time stimulus funds. In fact, for each of the previous two years, Pennsylvania has received nearly $2 Billion in additional one-time Federal stimulus dollars to spend on Public Welfare. This year, however, the Feds have eliminated the stimulus funds and are offering only $14.5 Billion dollars (down from $16.4) for our welfare spending. There will be no gift to Pennsylvania’s Welfare Department this year as the Federal government has run up against its debt ceiling.

The Corbett administration and Legislative leaders were confronted with a choice: return spending to the level that existed before the federal government’s one-time enticement, or have the taxpayer make up the difference in order to avoid a potential conflict with the federal government and the welfare establishment. Evidently Governor Corbett and legislative leaders have decided to take the path of least resistance placing the resulting burden on the back of the taxpayer.

If this budget is passed, as presented by the Governor, the taxpayers of the Commonwealth will be obligated to bear an additional burden of $2.4 billion in welfare spending. Spread over Governor Corbett's 4 year term, the citizens will be paying an astounding $8 Billion or more if this legislation is not stopped in its tracks. That’s over $8 Billion not available for meeting known state debt, or to taxpayers to spend as they so choose. It’s another example of state government dramatically increasing spending when we simply don’t have the money or the justification to do so. For the first time ever, the administration has decided to catapult Welfare spending ahead of K-12 education spending.

With such large amounts of money involved, the policy implications are enormous yet we have heard no debate on this issue. If there is some legitimate reason for saddling the taxpayers and future administrations with this burden, we haven’t heard it. This decision is costly. This decision runs counter to the demand to cut spending. This decision, if left unchanged, will hang like an anchor around the necks of every legislator who votes for it.

Yes, we are late in the budget process, but it’s not too late to make this change. This matter must be openly discussed and fairly addressed. The decisions may not be easy, but the solution is. Simply go back to the 2010-2011 State funding level as has been done with education. These are tough decisions to make, but they are right, and they are necessary.

AFP-PA strongly and urgently calls on the legislature to examine the justification for this giant leap in state spending on Public Welfare, the unnecessary addition to the General Fund budget and the resulting burden on the taxpayer. Again, we ask you to click right here to find your Legislator and do the same.

For Prosperity,

Sam Rohrer, State Director
Jennifer Stefano, Director of Communications
Katy Abram, Director of Policy
Vonne Andring, Director of Field Operations