By The PA. AFL-CIO

– With disregard for public opinion, with disregard for facts, and with disregard for the basic responsibilities of State Government outlined by our Constitution – the extreme conservative wing of the Republican Party has now passed a phony budget through both chambers of the legislature. This budget is not balanced, it relies on accounting gimmicks and one-time sources of revenue, and it forces workers and homeowners to continue subsidizing corporate welfare for multibillion-dollar out-of-state corporations.

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! Pennsylvanians have demanded a budget that restores education funding. Pennsylvanians have demanded a budget that includes property tax relief for working families and especially for senior citizens. Pennsylvanians have demanded a budget that finally starts taxing gas drillers, instead of inviting companies to come into our Commonwealth and strip our resources for free. Pennsylvanians have demanded a budget that makes the minimum wage in Pennsylvania a living wage for all workers. Pennsylvanians have demanded a budget that invests in our future, with a vision towards what our great State can achieve: Schools that teach; Jobs that pay; Government that works.

What we have witnessed over these past several days is far from ‘Government that works.’

Instead of delivering on the priorities of Pennsylvania’s families, the leadership in both chambers have ushered through a series of ideological attacks on wages, on workers’ rights, and on retirement security. The legislature has passed bills to give away valuable public assets and to eliminate jobs. None of these priorities are shared by the people of Pennsylvania.

This budget severely fails the people of Pennsylvania, and clearly deserves the veto that Governor Wolf has promised. It’s time for the legislature to stop playing games, and do the work they were elected to do on behalf of all Pennsylvanians.

Source – http://www.paaflcio.org/?p=6115