Corbett's state budget plan cuts $866 million

Corbett holds line on taxes; proposes huge decreases for education

By Laura Olson and Tracie Mauriello, Post-Gazette Harrisburg Bureau

HARRISBURG -- Gov. Tom Corbett's announcement of his $27.3 billion spending plan sparked heated reactions from Democratic lawmakers, who vowed to fight to restore millions in state education funding, while Republicans said it was a "blueprint" for the direction they'd like to go.

"Obviously there is no appetite or support for tax increases, so we have to take this finite amount of money now and we have to prioritize it," said Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati, R-Jefferson. "I think the governor has done an excellent job of reflecting what are the priorities of the people of Pennsylvania."

In his budget address, Mr. Corbett called his spending plan for the upcoming fiscal year "a reality-based budget."

"The electorate, its trust scraped to the bone by lies and half-truths, isn't going to stand for another broken promise," he said. "I said we'd cut. I'm not asking you to read my lips. I'm asking you to read my budget."

That proposal, which does not raise taxes, instead would slash $866 million in current spending.

The governor's proposed cuts would bring spending back to 2008-09 levels, prior to the recent

See Budget, page a-6

Gov. Tom Corbett delivers his budget address on Tuesday to a joint session of the Pennsylvania Legislature in Harrisburg. Seated at left is House Speaker Sam Smith, R-Jefferson, and at right is Lt. Gov. Jim Cawley.

Matt Rourke/Associated Press

Gov. Tom Corbett delivers his budget address on Tuesday to a joint session of the Pennsylvania Legislature in Harrisburg. Seated at left is House Speaker Sam Smith, R-Jefferson, and at right is Lt. Gov. Jim Cawley.

Proposed education cuts termed 'catastrophic'

By Eleanor Chute and Bill Schackner, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

No one expected Gov. Tom Corbett to propose spending more for education, but his proposal to spend more than $1 billion less -- including slicing state money for state-owned and state-related universities in half -- has left some reeling.

"It's even worse than I thought it would be," said Ron Cowell, a former state legislator who is president of the Education Policy and Leadership Council based on Harrisburg.

The governor's proposed budget also would affect school districts across the state. Pittsburgh Public Schools estimated its loss at $34.1 million. Mr. Corbett also called for a public school employee wage freeze and sought greater freedom to

See schools, Page a-6

Inside

  1. Public Welfare funding increases, but the AdultBasic insurance program gets nothing.
  2. The governor calls on the state to embrace natural gas drilling.
  3. Mayor Luke Ravenstahl assesses the impact on the city.

Pages a-6, a-7

On the web

  1. The complete text of the governor's prepared remarks.
  2. Register your opinion about the education cutbacks in a poll
  3. A PDF of all 1,184 pages in the budget.
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