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Scarnati is not listening

We are now a month and a half in to a budget stalemate and tensions are high at the Capitol. This may be why state Sen. Joseph Scarnati, R-Jefferson, recently targeted me in an opinion column titled Protecting Pennsylvania taxpayers, which touched on budget negotiations and a Marcellus Shale severance tax proposal.

I’d like to show readers some facts about the issues and where Pennsylvanians stand on them.

Recently I mailed out a budget survey to all households in the 76th District and also made it available for residents to complete online. To date, more than 1,000 people completed the survey, and I am grateful to those who shared their opinions.

Of those who responded, 78 percent said they support a Marcellus Shale tax. In addition, 69 percent support restoring basic education cuts, 57 percent support restoring previous cuts made to state-system and state-related universities, 78 percent support Gov. Wolf’s property tax shift/relief proposal, 74 percent believe employers should offer workers a defined pension benefit, 68 percent support increasing the minimum wage to $10.10 and 82 percent believe we should keep our state wine and spirits stores, but modernize them.

The responses from real people do not lie, so Sen. Scarnati cannot claim that my beliefs go against my community’s. I am actively engaging my constituents and listening to what they need. Sen. Scarnati is simply re-using old Harrisburg rhetoric.

As many of you might know, Sen. Scarnati has previously and publicly stated that there is support for a Marcellus Shale severance tax among Republicans and Democrats in the House and Senate. Yet now he is siding with big drilling companies by refusing to negotiate in good faith on the issue and bring it to a vote. It is his actions that contradict the desire of the General Assembly and that go against 78 percent of my constituents.

Additionally, the senator’s belief that I have forgotten about the many benefits that our region has seen from a Marcellus Shale impact fee is completely inaccurate. I have always tied my support for a severance tax with the need to keep the impact fee for local communities. On that issue I have never wavered and my position has never changed. Sen. Scarnati’s position, on the other hand, has.

Let’s continue to stick with the facts. Gov. Wolf vetoed the entire GOP budget because the numbers did not add up. That budget would have caused an approximate $3 billion deficit next year because of one-time transfers and accounting gimmicks. It did not provide for a severance tax, property tax relief, adequate education or human services funding, or restore any of the drastic cuts made by the previous administration.

In addition, the GOP insisted on lumping our liquor and pension systems into budget negotiations. As readers can see from my survey results, the GOP budget bill does nothing to address the desires of Clinton and Centre County residents.

Passing another status-quo budget using the same formula of short-term revenues will only make our state’s problems worse. The past four budgets have produced a $1.5 billion structural budget deficit, several downgrades in the state’s credit rating, increased property taxes, and generated funding shortfalls for schools, universities and crisis services providers.

As a top-ranking leader, Sen. Scarnati knows all too well that you cannot get a responsible budget passed without the participation of the governor and leaders of all four caucuses. He knows this because he has been quoted year after year as stating such. So once again, let’s try to be consistent, let’s stick to the facts and let’s get down to business. I am willing and ready to negotiate and compromise on a responsible budget in a bipartisan manner. I can only hope the senator feels the same way.

State Rep. Mike Hanna, D-Clinton/Centre, is the Pennsylvania House Democratic whip.

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