COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE HEARING
STATE CAPITOL MAIN BUILDING ROOM 140 HARRISBURG, PENNSYLVANIA
THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2013 1:00 P.M.
PRESENTATION FROM HOUSE MEMBERS
BEFORE:
HONORABLE WILLIAM F. ADOLPH, JR., MAJORITY CHAIRMAN HONORABLE KAREN BOBACK HONORABLE JIM CHRISTIANA HONORABLE GARY DAY HONORABLE GORDON DENLINGER HONORABLE BRIAN ELLIS HONORABLE MAUREE GINGRICH HONORABLE GLEN GRELL HONORABLE SETH GROVE HONORABLE TOM KILLION HONORABLE DAVID R. MILLARD HONORABLE MARK T. MUSTIO HONORABLE DONNA OBERLANDER HONORABLE BERNIE T. O'NEILL HONORABLE MICHAEL PEIFER HONORABLE SCOTT A. PETRI HONORABLE CURTIS G. SONNEY
————————— JEAN DAVIS REPORTING 285 EAST MANSION ROAD • HERSHEY, PA 17033 Phone (717)503-6568 1 BEFORE (cont.'d):
2 HONORABLE JOSEPH F. MARKOSEK, MINORITY CHAIRMAN HONORABLE MATTHEW D. BRADFORD 3 HONORABLE MICHELLE F. BROWNLEE HONORABLE MIKE CARROLL 4 HONORABLE H. SCOTT CONKLIN HONORABLE MADELINE DEAN 5 HONORABLE DEBERAH KULA HONORABLE MICHAEL H. O'BRIEN 6 HONORABLE JOHN P. SABATINA HONORABLE STEVEN SANTARSIERO 7 HONORABLE JAKE WHEATLEY
8 ALSO IN ATTENDANCE: 9 DAVID DONLEY, REPUBLICAN EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR 10 DAN CLARK, REPUBLICAN CHIEF COUNSEL MIRIAM FOX, DEMOCRATIC EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR 11 HONORABLE PAMELA DeLISSIO HONORABLE DAN FRANKEL 12 HONORABLE KEITH GILLESPIE HONORABLE JOE HACKETT 13 HONORABLE NICK KOTIK HONORABLE PHILLIS MUNDY 14 HONORABLE MARIO SCAVELLO
15
16 JEAN M. DAVIS, REPORTER NOTARY PUBLIC 17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
2 1 I N D E X
2 TESTIFIER
3 NAME PAGE 4
5 THOMAS MURT 4
6 PAUL COSTA 11
7 TARAH TOOHIL 16
8 BRYAN CUTLER 19
9 MARIA DONATUCCI 23
10 RICK MIRABITO 28
11 JERRY KNOWLES 34
12 MARK COHEN 38
13 PAM DiLISSIO 40
14 MADELEINE DEAN 46
15 MARK GILLEN 50
16 JAMES ROEBUCK (SUBMITTED WRITTEN REMARKS) 55
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
3 1 P R O C E E D I N G S
2 * * *
3 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN ADOLPH: Good afternoon,
4 everyone.
5 I'd like to call to order the House
6 Appropriations Budget Hearing. This part of the hearing is
7 for members of the House of Representatives to come before
8 the Appropriations Committee with written as well as verbal
9 requests regarding certain line items for revenue in the
10 budget.
11 And our first member is Rep. Tom Murt from
12 Montgomery County as well as Philadelphia County.
13 REP. MURT: That's correct, Mr. Chairman.
14 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN ADOLPH: Good afternoon,
15 Representative.
16 REP. MURT: Good afternoon, Chairman Adolph.
17 Good afternoon, Chairman Markosek.
18 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN ADOLPH: I will tell each
19 member -- and while I'm talking, it's not going against
20 your time, so you don't have to worry about that. We try
21 to keep the requests to about five minutes.
22 REP. MURT: Okay.
23 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN ADOLPH: Thank you very much.
24 REP. MURT: Thank you. I will comply with that,
25 Mr. Chairman.
4 1 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN ADOLPH: You may begin.
2 REP. MURT: Thank you, Mr. Chairman for the
3 opportunity to testify today. I'm here this afternoon to
4 request that funding be restored and increased in the
5 2012-2013 Commonwealth budget for the Pennsylvania Tourette
6 Syndrome Alliance.
7 I am here to request the very nominal amount of
8 $150,000 be put back into the budget to fund the critically
9 important programs and services provided by the
10 Pennsylvania Tourette Syndrome Alliance. The Pennsylvania
11 Tourette Syndrome Alliance is a non-profit agency based in
12 Adams County. It serves as Pennsylvania's own chapter of
13 the National Tourette Syndrome Association.
14 This organization provides very critical services
15 to Pennsylvanians who suffer from Tourette Syndrome and
16 their families. Tragically, the Governor's budget proposes
17 to zero out this line item altogether. I'd like to note
18 that our neighboring state of New Jersey funds this same
19 Tourette Syndrome mission to the tune of $1 million, while
20 our own Commonwealth is proposing a total elimination of
21 this funding that assists families who are struggling to
22 cope with this disorder.
23 Mr. Chairman, in all honesty, the original
24 $100,000 appropriation was not adequate, and the Governor's
25 plan to totally eliminate funding for the Pennsylvania
5 1 Tourette Syndrome Alliance will have a devastating effect
2 on their mission. Without restoration of this funding,
3 simply stated, the Pennsylvania Tourette Syndrome Alliance
4 will not be able to properly advocate for Pennsylvanians
5 who suffer from Tourette Syndrome.
6 The mission of the Tourette Syndrome Alliance is
7 to identify and to support the needs of and to advocate for
8 individuals with Tourette Syndrome in the Commonwealth and
9 to promote awareness of Tourette Syndrome through
10 informational outreach and educational presentations.
11 The Pennsylvania Tourette Syndrome Alliance
12 provides services for those with Tourette Syndrome, their
13 families, schools, the medical community, and the general
14 public. The Pennsylvania Tourette Syndrome Alliance
15 represents 9,000 families and their children who are
16 enrolled in Pennsylvania schools.
17 Mr. Chairman, I think it's important that I
18 describe what exactly Tourette Syndrome is. Tourette
19 Syndrome is a neurological disorder characterized by
20 uncontrolled tics, involuntary, rapid, sudden moments or
21 vocalizations occurring repeatedly and frequently, such as
22 excessive eye blinking, coughing, throat clearing,
23 sniffing, and facial movements. In its more severe form,
24 victims may bark, use profanity, or make other awkward
25 social comments or sounds.
6 1 Tourette Syndrome affects between 3 and 10 in
2 every 1,000 children based on the new prevalence study by
3 the National Institute of Health. Thousands of public
4 schoolchildren in Pennsylvania have been identified as
5 having Tourette Syndrome. Many more sadly go undiagnosed
6 or have chosen not to be identified at all for fear of
7 being stigmatized.
8 Mr. Chairman, Tourette Syndrome is a very complex
9 disorder and often co-occurs with other disorders, such as
10 Attention Deficit Disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity
11 Disorder. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Sensory
12 Processing Disorder, and a variety of other learning
13 disabilities.
14 Tourette Syndrome, with its spectrum of
15 associated disorders, is multifaceted and is often
16 misunderstood. Together, these diagnoses make coping in
17 school a tremendous challenge. Until their teachers and
18 classmates understand or are trained, many children with
19 Tourette Syndrome are reprimanded in school or tormented by
20 peers for their symptoms which are caused by their
21 disability.
22 The funding in question empowers the Alliance to
23 provide supports and services to Pennsylvania residents
24 diagnosed with Tourette Syndrome and their family members.
25 Services provided include information and referral;
7 1 outreach programs; a dynamic website; a toll-free hotline
2 for parents, teachers, and caregivers; newsletters; support
3 groups across the Commonwealth; non-legal advocacy; and an
4 annual family conference.
5 The Pennsylvania Tourette Syndrome Alliance also
6 provides information and training to schools, teachers,
7 counselors, coaches, nurses, physicians, professionals,
8 speech pathologists, family members, and peers. To help
9 the community at large, the Alliance provides training and
10 sends outreach to the underserved areas of the State,
11 including our most rural and remote communities.
12 The Alliance also maintains a physician referral
13 list of doctors who specialize in Tourette Syndrome so that
14 families who are seeking an appropriate diagnosis and
15 treatment can locate doctors familiar with the disorder.
16 Mr. Chairman, the Pennsylvania Tourette Syndrome
17 Alliance utilizes the funds they receive from the
18 Commonwealth prudently. Their mission includes a small
19 staff who manage a cadre of numerous volunteers who provide
20 toll-free phone support to families across Pennsylvania.
21 The advocates of the Alliance drive thousands of
22 miles every year throughout Pennsylvania to attend school
23 meetings and to give educational presentations. The
24 advocates travel almost weekly to Philadelphia to help
25 Pennsylvania's poorest families get the help they need to
8 1 care for their child and to ensure the best possible
2 educational setting.
3 Many parents need assistance in navigating the
4 confusing IEP process. And as part of the IEP team,
5 Alliance advocates are able to help school districts to
6 better understand students with Tourette Syndrome and to
7 make recommendations for the modifications that will help
8 these students to be successful in school.
9 Sadly, many students with Tourette Syndrome have
10 been suspended from public schools, placed in alternative
11 schools, or not correctly identified for Special Education
12 services when no advocates are involved on their behalf.
13 Mr. Chairman, the most compelling reason of all
14 to restore full funding to the Pennsylvania Tourette
15 Syndrome Alliance is that they advocate for families who
16 have no other place to turn.
17 The families to whom I refer cannot afford legal
18 counsel nor professional advocates to fight it out with
19 their local school districts and desperately need the
20 Pennsylvania Tourette Syndrome Alliance to advocate for
21 them. The Alliance is out there fighting for these
22 families and is most deserving of our support.
23 Mr. Chairman, a fair question about the funding
24 is, what will happen if the State does not fund the
25 Pennsylvania Tourette Syndrome Alliance next year? I can
9 1 tell you with all candor that the loss of this funding will
2 have a significant negative impact on the services that the
3 Alliance will be able to provide.
4 The Alliance has already condensed its services,
5 reduced its programming costs, eliminated staff positions,
6 and exhausted its modest reserve to cover last year's
7 funding cuts. Without State funding, the Alliance cannot
8 continue to meet the needs of families affected by Tourette
9 Syndrome at its current level of service.
10 If the Pennsylvania Tourette Syndrome Alliance is
11 to continue to provide these vital services without State
12 funding, at this rate, the organization will last no more
13 than seven months, before it will have no choice but to
14 close its doors and end its mission.
15 Mr. Chairman, I conclude my remarks by stating
16 that if funding is fully restored to the $150,000 level,
17 the Alliance will be empowered to continue their mission to
18 support the children in the Commonwealth who have Tourette
19 Syndrome and the families who care for these children.
20 I am respectfully asking for $150,000 out of a
21 $28.44 billion budget to help children who have a
22 disability. I am sure, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that if
23 we put our collective mind to it, we can find this critical
24 funding. I am respectfully requesting the restoration of
25 $150,000 to the budget for the Pennsylvania Tourette
10 1 Syndrome Alliance.
2 Thank you for your consideration, Mr. Chairman.
3 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN ADOLPH: Thank you very much
4 for being present today, Representative.
5 REP. MURT: Thank you to the members of the
6 Committee.
7 MINORITY CHAIRMAN MARKOSEK: Rep. Murt, just to
8 let you know, I personally will do everything I can to help
9 you support this. I'm sure Chairman Adolph feels very
10 strongly about this as well. And I would pledge that our
11 Committee members will work very hard to try to restore
12 this money and get you what you need.
13 REP. MURT: I appreciate that, Mr. Chairman.
14 And just one final thought. I think the best way
15 to look at this, Mr. Chairman, this is an investment. This
16 is not an expenditure.
17 Thank you.
18 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN ADOLPH: We understand.
19 Thank you very much.
20 REP. MURT: Thank you.
21 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN ADOLPH: The next member of the
22 House will be Rep. Paul Costa from Allegheny County,
23 District 34.
24 REP. COSTA: Mr. Chairman.
25 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN ADOLPH: Good afternoon.
11 1 REP. COSTA: Good to see you again.
2 Chairman Markosek, members of the Committee,
3 thank you for giving me the opportunity to be here today.
4 I want to talk to you about one of my favorite subjects,
5 the Pittsburgh Film Tax Credit -- Pennsylvania Film Tax
6 Credit. Freudian slip.
7 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN ADOLPH: You're off to a good
8 start.
9 REP. COSTA: The film tax credit is capped at $65
10 million. And I do commend Governor Corbett for continuing
11 this program. It's been very successful. But I would ask
12 now that we actually uncap it. That may sound
13 unreasonable. But I get an opportunity to lay out the
14 facts. There are about eight other states today that uncap
15 it.
16 The reason why, if I can back up a little bit and
17 explain how the Film Tax Credit works, is if you or I want
18 to make a movie in Pennsylvania, we approach DCED and we
19 tell them we want to make a movie in Pennsylvania and we're
20 going to use at least 60 percent of Pennsylvanians and
21 production is going to be a minimum of 60 percent in the
22 Commonwealth.
23 That movie takes time. And if you put in the
24 application and you're approved, you get a hold for a tax
25 credit. After the movie has been made, there's an
12 1 independent audit that is done. And the audit is to prove
2 that you did what you said you were going to do. If that's
3 the case, then, and only then, do you get the tax credit.
4 Now, that is after you've already made the
5 investment in the Commonwealth, you've already spent a ton
6 of money in our area. And sometimes that spans over one,
7 two, possibly three different fiscal cycles.
8 So the reason why I'm asking to take it out is
9 that we can invest the money in this fiscal year, but
10 you're using the tax credit in the following fiscal year.
11 So there's money that's coming and going all the time.
12 And unfortunately, because it's capped at $65
13 million, we've lost several projects over the last year
14 because we've run out of money. The program has been such
15 a success and the workforce has been so great that we have
16 a lot of demand that's coming into Pennsylvania that wants
17 to make movies.
18 I'm sure some of you just recently saw the
19 article where Bradley Cooper approached the Governor and
20 asked for a $4.5 million tax credit. Unfortunately, that
21 was denied and that film is actually going somewhere else.
22 In Pittsburgh, we had a TV production, the
23 Hatfields and McCoys. That was over a $7 million tax
24 credit. Unfortunately, again, there's no money so that's
25 going to Massachusetts.
13 1 And when I say they're asking for a $4 million
2 credit, that's not saying how much money they spend.
3 That's how much money is on the credit side of it. So
4 they're spending four to five to six times more of an
5 economic impact.
6 Over the last six years, the tax credit has
7 generated over $1.4 billion. It's created 18,000 jobs.
8 There's a lot that's going on with the Pennsylvania tax
9 credit. And most recently, unfortunately, because it's
10 capped at $65 million, we're losing these good
11 opportunities.
12 One example I have is a few years ago, the
13 Pittsburgh Film Office did a study on impact. We were
14 credited with 34,000 room nights at one hotel in downtown
15 Pittsburgh. That's just directly related to the Film
16 Office. Those were the rooms that we booked. And when I
17 say we -- I have to disclose I am a Board member -- the
18 Pittsburgh Film Office, we booked those hotel rooms.
19 Unfortunately, this past year was the lowest
20 amount of rooms that we booked in the last seven years.
21 And I think it's a direct impact of not having enough money
22 in the budget.
23 And I will ask if you cannot uncap it, I would
24 hope that we could at least put it at $150 million. That
25 will help us out enormously. And if that sounds like a
14 1 lot, a year ago -- or less than a year ago, a lot of us
2 voted for the EITC, which increased it by $25 million. I
3 was one of the people that voted for that tax credit. And
4 I'm sure most of the people in this room voted for it, too.
5 We bumped that up over $100 million.
6 I'm not aware of any study that's been done that
7 shows the economic impact of the EITC. But we've had study
8 after study showing how much of an impact the Pennsylvania
9 Film Tax Credit has and the jobs that it creates. So if we
10 can increase one tax credit that no one has been able to
11 prove that it saves the Commonwealth or even generates
12 money for the Commonwealth, I think we should easily be
13 able to increase the Film Tax Credit.
14 I would be glad to answer any questions. If not,
15 Mr. Chairman, I appreciate your time.
16 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN ADOLPH: Thank you very much.
17 One quick comment from Rep. Kula.
18 REP. KULA: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
19 This is something that I brought up to the
20 Secretary of DCED when we had the budget hearing, asking
21 for the increase and bringing out the benefit of this tax
22 credit. So hopefully this Committee can take that into
23 consideration.
24 REP. COSTA: Thank you very much. I appreciate
25 it.
15 1 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN ADOLPH: Thank you.
2 REP. COSTA: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
3 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN ADOLPH: I understand that Rep.
4 Rosemary Brown has cancelled.
5 Is Rep. Mark Cohen present? Not seeing Mark
6 Cohen, is Rep. Tarah Toohil here?
7 Yes. Thank you.
8 REP. TOOHIL: Good afternoon.
9 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN ADOLPH: Good afternoon,
10 Representative.
11 REP. TOOHIL: Thank you to both Chairmen and to
12 the Committee for allowing me time to speak with you today.
13 While I am concerned with funding for education,
14 Children and Youth, affordable health care, and crime
15 prevention in this State, I'm going to take this time to
16 address one issue in detail. I am here to provide the
17 human story of the behavioral health cuts in my district.
18 These cuts have been dramatic and have resulted
19 in a drastic decrease in the therapeutic staff support and
20 the behavioral support that children are receiving.
21 As someone who is seeing these cuts firsthand,
22 there is no denying that these cuts are about money.
23 Private organizations are looking at the bottom line and
24 these children are the ones that are suffering for it.
25 Five providers from Luzerne County submitted
16 1 denial data for the four-month period, September through
2 December. The denials represent 248 children who have had
3 over 1,570 hours per week of services denied compared to
4 what had been previously authorized.
5 In addition, approximately 700 hours of services
6 per week were requested for 52 children in initial requests
7 for behavioral health services. Only 125 hours per week
8 were approved. These children deal with issues such as
9 Autism, ADHD, Oppositional Defiance Disorder, and Severe
10 Disruptive Behavior Disorder. These services are
11 recommended by a treatment team, including a licensed
12 psychologist.
13 The standard for whether your child qualifies for
14 care has been altered to be one that's a lot more drastic,
15 where children are only eligible if they are deemed to be
16 aggressive or self-injurious. Not only is this standard
17 unfair to the disabled, it is absurd to say that a child is
18 not in need of services unless they are terrorizing the
19 classroom or causing harm to themselves.
20 A woman in my district has two children with
21 special needs. She is also a Special Education teacher.
22 Her ten-year-old has Downs and has behavioral support and
23 therapeutic support staff for ten hours a week. That has
24 now been zeroed out. Her other eight-year-old son has
25 Autism and has gone from 28 hours down to 20. And she has
17 1 seen the results of their regression.
2 According to the parents, teachers, and the
3 behavioral support workers, these children who are having
4 their services decreased or cancelled are showing signs of
5 regression. Generally, these advances are becoming verbal,
6 being included in the class, and completing independent
7 tasks. And now these achievements are becoming things of
8 the past as these children regress.
9 With such a drastic reduction in services,
10 teachers are now left with children in their classrooms
11 with low-level, moderate, and severe behavioral issues.
12 These teachers are now losing the TSS workers or behavioral
13 support staff that were helping them with the inclusion in
14 the classroom and teachers are having a very hard time
15 teaching.
16 Also, now the burden is falling on the schools to
17 fund paraprofessionals or aides who do not have the same
18 educational background. And those aides are now expected
19 to control the behavior of these children.
20 All of these negative impacts are resulting from
21 the funding cuts to these services. I am kindly urging
22 this Committee to restore the funding that has caused these
23 cuts.
24 Thank you.
25 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN ADOLPH: Thank you very much,
18 1 Representative.
2 REP. TOOHIL: Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman.
3 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN ADOLPH: Is Rep. Maria
4 Donatucci present?
5 Is Rep. Bryan Cutler present?
6 REP. CUTLER: Yes. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
7 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN ADOLPH: Good afternoon.
8 REP. CUTLER: Good afternoon. Chairman Adolph,
9 Chairman Markosek, honorable members of the Committee, I
10 want to thank you for the opportunity to come before you
11 and testify about a particular item in the budget that is
12 of great interest to me, this being the ALS funding line
13 item in this year's budget.
14 As many of you probably know, it was zeroed out
15 in the current proposal. And the Chairman, both Chairmen,
16 and many members of this Committee, were instrumental in
17 getting this assistance last year. And I want to
18 personally thank you again for doing so. And thank you for
19 your past efforts so that we could provide care for these
20 patients in the budget.
21 Many of you already know that my personal
22 connection with the disease began because of the impacts on
23 my parents as I grew up. At the age of 15, my mother was
24 diagnosed with ALS and quickly progressed to being
25 wheelchair-bound. My father, sister, and I all provided
19 1 care for her in our home. We learned firsthand that better
2 care in terms of outcomes as well as economically can occur
3 at home.
4 As my father was also diagnosed in the following
5 year with the disease, both of my parents progressed very
6 quickly with their complications. We worked towards
7 keeping them in their home for as long as we possibly could
8 because we knew that's where they wanted to be. This was a
9 decision that was based on economics as much as it was on
10 compassion because we recognized that we had a limited pool
11 of financial resources in order to provide the care to
12 them.
13 I am here again this year advocating for the
14 funding line item of $300,000 to be restored as well as
15 potentially increased for the follow reasons:
16 First, it makes economic sense for the
17 Commonwealth because it can be the most cost efficient.
18 Many of the ALS patients eventually end up on the Medicaid
19 rolls as their disease progresses and they exhaust their
20 own financial resources. They end up no longer being able
21 to provide for themselves and then become a new patient on
22 the Medicaid rolls.
23 The alternative of providing care at home
24 oftentimes is providing that same kind of intensive care in
25 the nursing homes and it can be much, much more costly for
20 1 us as policymakers. This particular portion of the care
2 can be thousands of dollars a month. Conservative
3 estimates put it at over $80,000 a year to care for these
4 individuals.
5 This kind of multi-disciplinary care that is
6 needed is extremely expensive. And while it makes a
7 positive impact on the patient, it is extremely burdening
8 to the families and ultimately to us as a Commonwealth as
9 we move forward. I believe that our goal as policymakers
10 should be to impact the most number of people in the most
11 cost-efficient manner and with the best positive health
12 outcomes. I personally believe this is best achieved
13 through at-home care.
14 I've attached a list, which I'll be forwarding to
15 you if it wasn't already, demonstrating how this money was
16 utilized in last year's budget. And it demonstrates that
17 with some accommodation and assistance, that individuals
18 are able to spend more of their time at home receiving the
19 type of comfortable care they require in a comfortable
20 environment. And that's beneficial to them on a multitude
21 of levels as well as to us.
22 For many of these individuals, the cost of any
23 one of these individual accommodations is simply
24 prohibitive. But as we move forward, hopefully the goal is
25 to prevent a transfer to a long-term care facility that
21 1 will come much sooner should they exhaust their own
2 resources and, unfortunately, at a much greater cost to the
3 State if we do not assist them now.
4 The second reason I believe that the line item is
5 essential is due to the nature of the disease and who it
6 impacts. It's a disease that impacts people without
7 respect to political affiliation, socioeconomic concerns,
8 race, or gender.
9 However, multiple peer-reviewed medical studies
10 have demonstrated that there's an increased occurrence of
11 ALS among our Veterans' community. The rate of ALS in our
12 Veterans' community can be twice as high as the average
13 population. And currently in PA we already have between
14 800 and 900 residents who have ALS.
15 While many of these are receiving services, those
16 in the rural areas particularly encounter some barriers to
17 this care that might not otherwise be available.
18 Throughout the war on terror, we, as a Commonwealth, have
19 had the largest contingent of deployed National Guardsmen.
20 I greatly appreciate the sacrifices they have
21 made for our country. Unfortunately, the data and prior
22 studies indicate that we can expect an increased occurrence
23 of ALS in our Veterans who are our residents in the
24 upcoming years. I believe it is our duty to ensure that
25 there is a robust care network in place to ensure that they
22 1 receive the treatment that they deserve.
2 I wanted to thank you again for the opportunity
3 to come before you and share my personal experiences and
4 insights on the impacts of the disease. I intend to
5 continue advocating for the increase to this line item
6 throughout the legislative process.
7 I believe the testimonials included with the
8 presentation today indicate the positive impact that this
9 funding can have on our ALS patients. Furthermore, I also
10 believe that while we were successful last year, there
11 still remains a great deal of work to be done.
12 Thank you for those of you who have already
13 committed to assisting me. I'll be happy to take any
14 questions or answer them off line at your convenience.
15 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN ADOLPH: Thank you very much,
16 Representative. Have a good day.
17 REP. CUTLER: Thank you. You as well, Chairman
18 Adolph.
19 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN ADOLPH: Has Rep. Maria
20 Donatucci arrived?
21 REP. DONATUCCI: Yes.
22 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN ADOLPH: Good afternoon,
23 Representative.
24 REP. DONATUCCI: Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman.
25 Thank you for allowing me to be here today.
23 1 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN ADOLPH: Thank you for being
2 here this afternoon.
3 REP. DONATUCCI: Mr. Chairman, thank you for the
4 opportunity to testify before the Appropriations Committee
5 today. My name is Maria Donatucci, and I represent the
6 185th Legislative District comprised of parts of Delaware
7 and Philadelphia Counties.
8 As I have done in the past when standing before
9 this Committee, I wish to focus my comments on some issues
10 that are of particular concern to my constituency, as well
11 as Pennsylvanians as a whole, and I strongly believe the
12 decisions made in regards to these issues will undoubtedly
13 alter the fiscal landscape of this great Commonwealth.
14 If I may, I would like to focus on House Bill
15 790, which will attempt to privatize State liquor sales and
16 eradicate the State Liquor Control Board.
17 I understand fully that the focus of this
18 particular Committee is on allocation. But it is important
19 to remember that the decisions made here can ultimately
20 determine whether or not the Liquor Control Board has a leg
21 to stand on as it pertains to its promises to make
22 State-run liquor sales even more profitable.
23 As representatives from the PLCB and unionized
24 workers testified before this Committee and your
25 counterparts in the Senate, a word that was echoed over and
24 1 over again was modernization. Instead of privatizing, we
2 need to focus on modernizing.
3 If given the right resources and a plan for the
4 future, the PLCB can emerge as a national front runner in
5 its operations and set the standard for a modern, efficient
6 State-run system that generates irreplaceable revenue for
7 the State.
8 Before allocating the type of resources necessary
9 to make this modernization possible and ultimately save the
10 State-run liquor system, this Committee first has to
11 determine whether or not this is a system worth saving. To
12 that, my response would be a resounding yes.
13 Since the year 2000, the PLCB has contributed
14 over $4 billion to the Pennsylvania Treasury, nearly $200
15 million to the Pennsylvania State Police, over $18 million
16 to the Department of Health, and $15 million-plus to local
17 communities.
18 We are talking about an agency that infuses
19 nearly $41 million into the Pennsylvania economy and
20 remains the largest purchaser of wine and spirits in the
21 United States.
22 In my opinion, the only argument that supersedes
23 the obvious contribution State-run liquor sales makes to
24 the Commonwealth is the argument outlining the huge loss we
25 will experience as a State if the privatization bill
25 1 passes.
2 We are looking at the loss of more than 600 State
3 liquor stores, which will result in an unimaginable job
4 loss at a time when a job is one of the most precious
5 commodities.
6 Perhaps none of these things are of concern to
7 consumers, but when you factor in the loss of beer
8 distributor advantages and the loss of choice in affordable
9 wine prices, it is clear that consumers will lose the
10 luxuries of affordability and availability.
11 Making the preservation of the State-run system
12 and the hundreds of stores and jobs that come along with it
13 with its priorities in this budget can drastically alter
14 the future of the State.
15 Let's get on board with modernizing the system
16 that has clear advantages and let's improve the outlook by
17 investing in the PLCB. I for one believe that the payoff
18 will be great for our State.
19 Similarly, I was one of the many legislators who
20 applauded Attorney General Kathleen Kane's decision to
21 reject Governor Corbett's deal that would hand over the
22 control of the Pennsylvania Lottery to a foreign management
23 firm. I believe that we can do it better and we can do it
24 cheaper.
25 Much like modernization is the key to preserving
26 1 State-run liquor sales, expansion is the key to preserving
2 the State Lottery system and the senior programs that it
3 funds.
4 Every dollar that goes to Greenhill & Company is
5 another dollar less for senior citizen programs. Every
6 dollar that goes towards paying executive bonuses is
7 another dollar taken from union workers.
8 Democratic leadership has put forth a proposal
9 that promises $120 million in new senior funding next
10 fiscal year. And this plan does so without jeopardizing
11 future senior program funding.
12 We made a commitment when we were elected to join
13 this Legislature to work tirelessly to ensure a better
14 today and a better tomorrow for the people we represent.
15 As the number of seniors who will view the programs funded
16 by the Lottery as a necessity continues to grow, it is our
17 job to ensure the survival of these vital programs.
18 I believe that we are capable of keeping our
19 commitment; and in addition to working tirelessly, we must
20 continue to work efficiently and in good faith to achieve
21 the best desired results for Pennsylvania citizens.
22 This budget, like all future budgets, should
23 reflect our commitment to just that.
24 Thank you.
25 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN ADOLPH: Thank you very much.
27 1 Have a good afternoon.
2 REP. DONATUCCI: Thank you. You, too.
3 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN ADOLPH: Is Rep. Rick Mirabito
4 here?
5 REP. MIRABITO: Yes.
6 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN ADOLPH: Good afternoon,
7 Representative.
8 REP. MIRABITO: Good afternoon. Thank you for
9 having me today, Chairman Adolph, Chairman Markosek, and
10 the other members of the Appropriations Committee.
11 And thank you for providing me with the
12 opportunity to speak to you on behalf of the people of the
13 83rd Legislative District. One-half of the population of
14 the 83rd District lives in Williamsport, a third-class city
15 in Lycoming County in northcentral Pennsylvania, and the
16 rest live in eight other townships and boroughs surrounding
17 Williamsport.
18 Each time that I've spoken to you over the past
19 two years, I've emphasized how the cuts that have been
20 enacted to education and human service programs have had a
21 more detrimental impact in rural communities than on other
22 sections of the State.
23 With regard to rural Pennsylvania, there are
24 three lessons that I've learned from the budget debates:
25 first, we need to recognize that rural communities are
28 1 fundamentally different in their economic structure; put
2 simply, rural communities are poorer and less able to
3 sustain massive State cuts in funding than affluent
4 communities;
5 Second, although we may try to reduce State
6 spending, the problems in our communities do not go away;
7 And finally, third, reductions in State spending
8 are a form of tax shifting, which ends up burdening our
9 rural communities in devastating ways by shifting tax
10 burdens onto those who are least able to sustain them.
11 When we analysis the situation facing many in our
12 rural communities, we see that they're fundamentally
13 different from the more affluent parts of the State. And,
14 in fact, they share many of the problems and economic
15 struggles of our urban centers.
16 For example, if we look at the 83rd Legislative
17 District and Lycoming County, we see a stark comparison
18 with the rest of the State. Thus, the statewide median
19 household income is approximately $51,600. But in Lycoming
20 County, it's only $43,700, a full 15 percent lower.
21 And in the third-class city of Williamsport, the
22 median household income is only in the range of $35,000, a
23 level that compares with some of our urban communities.
24 This means that half of our families are living on less
25 than $35,000. And unfortunately, we have even lower median
29 1 incomes in some of the more rural parts of Lycoming County.
2 Finally, while statewide we have about 13.7
3 percent of the population living below the poverty level,
4 in Lycoming County that number is over 17 percent. And
5 other rural communities have similar or worse numbers of
6 people living below the poverty level. Unfortunately, this
7 is a burden that rural Pennsylvania has to carry.
8 We know from research done by the Center for
9 Rural Pennsylvania that with 3.4 million residents --
10 that's 27 percent of our State's population -- Pennsylvania
11 is home to the third largest rural population in the United
12 States. In fact, 48 of our State's 67 counties are
13 considered rural. The only two counties that are not
14 considered rural are Delaware and Philadelphia.
15 So when I talk to you today about three areas of
16 importance to rural Pennsylvania, I hope you'll recognize
17 that it encompasses a large section of the State.
18 Recently the Pennsylvania Health Law Project and
19 the Pennsylvania Office of Rural Health released an
20 important report entitled, Medicaid Expansion: A Benefit
21 for Rural Pennsylvania. We have provided a copy of this
22 with the testimony. We urge each member of the Committee
23 to review it.
24 In it you will find important information as to
25 how the expansion of Medicaid will make a fundamental
30 1 difference in the lives of rural Pennsylvanians. For
2 example, in 2011, 12 percent of the rural population in
3 Pennsylvania -- that's almost 412,000 people -- did not
4 have health insurance.
5 Medicaid often is the health insurance program
6 for the working. These are families with children who
7 work, but they're in low-income jobs without
8 employer-sponsored health care.
9 As a result, rural residents are often uninsured
10 for longer periods of time than our urban and suburban
11 residents. These rural workers often have less access to
12 insurance provided by their employer and individually
13 purchased insurance is more expensive.
14 Finally, rural Pennsylvanians, in comparison to
15 our urban counterparts, are more likely to have serious
16 health care needs and chronic diseases, including
17 hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, and arthritis.
18 Medicaid expansion in Pennsylvania will also help
19 rural residents who receive health care services at
20 Federally Qualified Health Centers. We have an HQHC in
21 Lycoming County. The director has reported that in 2012,
22 almost 60 percent of the clients were Medicaid enrollees
23 and over 10 percent were Medicare. In fact, in 2012,
24 almost 25 percent were uninsured and paid what they were
25 able to pay on a sliding scale.
31 1 Both the FQHC and the local hospital system,
2 Susquehanna Health, have reported that while sustaining
3 care for the uninsured is expensive, it is not nearly as
4 expensive as using the emergency room as a primary care
5 doctor. In fact, the FQHC director reports that using the
6 ER is at least ten times more expensive than using the
7 FQHC.
8 We know in Williamsport, the Williamsport
9 Hospital has the 25th busiest emergency room in the State.
10 So emergency room care is the most expensive way
11 to get health care. And it doesn't establish a medical
12 home address and it doesn't allow doctors to address
13 chronic problems which eventually can reduce health care
14 costs.
15 In fact, the FQHC director estimates that 50 to
16 70 percent of their patients have unmet mental health
17 needs, and they're working hard to try to integrate mental
18 health care into their services. In light of recent events
19 nationally regarding violence, addressing unmet mental
20 health needs is a critical public safety issue for every
21 Pennsylvanian.
22 To address the urgent need for health care in
23 rural Pennsylvania, I urge this Committee to pursue the
24 expansion of Medicaid.
25 Finally, I also want to talk to you about the
32 1 budget cuts of the past two years and how they've affected
2 public safety in rural Pennsylvania. I appeared before
3 this Committee last year and asked that funds be
4 appropriated to restore the Pennsylvania State Police
5 Aviation Unit to the Montoursville Airport. The unit
6 serves a broad area of rural Pennsylvania, including ten
7 counties: Bradford, Cameron, Clinton, Lycoming, Montour,
8 Northumberland, Potter, Snyder, Sullivan, and Tioga.
9 The aviation unit provided services to Federal,
10 State, and local law enforcement agencies by conducting
11 searches, criminal surveillance, Homeland Security
12 missions, aerial photography, flood rescue missions, and
13 other emergency transports. In this budget, I urge the
14 Committee to restore funding and require the Pennsylvania
15 State Police to post an aviation unit in Montoursville.
16 And finally, the Department of Public Health. In
17 the area of public health, the proposed budget is going to
18 hurt rural Pennsylvanians disproportionately by closing
19 many of the State's public health centers and eliminating
20 public health nurse positions. The Department of Health
21 offices are vital for providing information, immunizations,
22 and disaster relief to thousands of rural Pennsylvanians.
23 Public health nurses in rural communities play an
24 important role in educating the public about everything
25 from safe practices for the care of children, including
33 1 infant-age sleep practices, child injury prevention, and
2 car seat programs.
3 We believe that the elimination of these nurse
4 positions will place an additional pressure on local
5 emergency rooms. Because rural communities are spread over
6 large geographic areas, many constituents may not receive
7 services. And this barrier to service will be especially
8 acute for elderly rural residents.
9 In summary, I urge the Committee to consider the
10 special needs of rural Pennsylvania as we debate this
11 budget. Each of the issues discussed is an opportunity for
12 us to enhance the quality and the length of life for our
13 rural residents. As equal members of the Commonwealth, we
14 deserve at least to be treated not as second-class
15 citizens. We continue to ask for a helping hand, and not a
16 hand out.
17 Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
18 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN ADOLPH: Thank you,
19 Representative. Have a good afternoon.
20 REP. MIRABITO: Thank you.
21 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN ADOLPH: Rep. Jerry Knowles.
22 REP. KNOWLES: Thank you very much, Chairman
23 Adolph, Chairman Markosek, and members of the Committee,
24 for the opportunity to appear before you today.
25 I've had the occasion to watch many of the
34 1 proceedings on TV. And I commend you for the job that
2 you're doing. It's a very important part of the process.
3 And you folks are doing a good job.
4 I'm proud that we were able to pass an on-time
5 budget funding the core and essential services of State
6 Government, with no tax increases, the past two years. I
7 recognize that this is our Constitutional duty, but it is
8 something that had not been done for the eight previous
9 budgets.
10 I'm here today to present testimony related to
11 the privatization of the wine and spirits shops in our
12 Commonwealth. Let me start by stating that I'm fully
13 supportive of initiative. I sincerely believe that this is
14 not a core service of government, and, as a former small
15 business owner, I can tell you that the people of
16 Pennsylvania will be better served by the private sector.
17 Although I support privatization, I have noted
18 for months that I believe the dollars generated from this
19 sale, whether it be $1 billion more or less, will be best
20 spent on addressing the problems with our 5,600
21 structurally deficient bridges and over 7,000 miles of
22 roads that are in poor condition. I must admit that I'm
23 disappointed that we are considering new programs when
24 these dollars could be dedicated to this serious safety
25 issue.
35 1 Every day we wait to address this problem adds to
2 the State's unfunded transportation need's, which are
3 approximately $3.3 billion at the present time. If we do
4 not take action, in ten years, the unfunded transportation
5 needs will reach $7.2 billion.
6 Ladies and gentlemen, I want to make it clear
7 that I believe the money derived from the sale of the wine
8 and spirits shops being spent on the Educational Block
9 Grant initiative as proposed by the Governor is indeed
10 worthwhile. I can also agree that there are many
11 additional projects that have been discussed that would be
12 deemed a worthy expenditure of these funds.
13 I do, however, have grave concerns that funneling
14 these dollars to education creates somewhat of a stimulus
15 situation. I realize the Governor has said that he will
16 make it clear to all school districts that these dollars
17 should not be baked into their annual budgets.
18 I'm not sure schools will take this advice. And
19 when the funding is no longer available in four years, they
20 will, again, be complaining that we're taking money away
21 from basic education. Ladies and gentlemen, school
22 officials themselves have raised concerns for reoccurring
23 finances when these dollars are gone. They are asking
24 where the money will come from to continue any new programs
25 that might be instituted because of the new funding.
36 1 Although I realize the value of spending these
2 dollars on education, they can be better spent on
3 transportation needs, which are a core and essential
4 service of government. Transportation affects every
5 individual in this State, not only the 1.5 million children
6 carried to school by 31,000 buses every day.
7 Dedicating the funds to transportation will make
8 for safer roads and bridges and will have a positive effect
9 on everyone who walks over a bridge, drives on our roads,
10 or rides as a passenger in any form of transportation for
11 decades to come.
12 Let me close by asking for consideration of my
13 legislation, House Bill 220, when addressing the sale of
14 the wine and spirits shops. This bill would spend each and
15 every dollar generated through the sale of our current LCB
16 operations over the course of the next four years to repair
17 our roads and bridges. These very roads, bridges, and
18 infrastructure are what Pennsylvanians need to create jobs,
19 spur economic growth, and build a brighter future.
20 Again, Mr. Chairman, I want to thank you, as well
21 as Mr. Chairman Markosek and the other members of the
22 Committee.
23 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN ADOLPH: Thank you very much,
24 Rep. Knowles. Have a good afternoon.
25 REP. KNOWLES: Thank you.
37 1 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN ADOLPH: I see that Rep. Mark
2 Cohen has arrived.
3 Representative.
4 REP. COHEN: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
5 Chairman Adolph, Chairman Markosek, I apologize
6 to you for being late. I also apologize to you for not
7 having written testimony. You will get written testimony
8 from me shortly. I will be brief.
9 I favor expanding Medicaid. I believe we should
10 join the National Medicaid Program. And I think that the
11 Appropriations Committee should consider putting it in the
12 budget and mandating, at least for this year, Pennsylvania
13 as part of the National Medicaid Program.
14 Secondly, I believe that the Committee has to
15 take the recent Commonwealth Court decision very seriously.
16 And to the degree that joining the Medicaid Program does
17 not solve the concerns of the Commonwealth Court Judge, the
18 Committee has to deal with those concerns. I do not see a
19 point in the Committee and the Legislature engaging in an
20 adversarial relationship with the courts of this
21 Commonwealth.
22 Third, I favor restoration of Legislative
23 Initiative Grants to some degree. I think there ought to
24 be safeguards against waste of money; there ought to be
25 safeguards against partisanship; there ought to be
38 1 safeguards against quid pro quos in exchange for votes; but
2 there ought to be some system of accountable local grants
3 to meet local needs.
4 It is far better to meet local needs with grants
5 than to have to set up a statewide program to see that
6 everybody meets a need that exists in only a small
7 percentage of the Commonwealth. Targeted aide, allowing
8 there be some discretion, it is cheaper, more responsive,
9 and, I think, frankly, more appreciated by the voters. So
10 I would hope that we can move in that direction.
11 Finally, I would recommend that the Committee
12 continue skepticism towards the unfunded liability
13 situation. The Dow Jones average, since we held a hearing
14 on this, has hit an all-time high. Every time the Dow
15 Jones Industrial average goes up, our unfunded liability
16 goes down. 80 percent of our funds is in the stock market.
17 The pension system is extremely sensitive to the stock
18 market variations. The Dow Jones Industrial averages have
19 already gone up in 2013 in the first two months and several
20 days of 2013 more than they went up -- in terms of total
21 points more than they went up in all of 2012 or all of 2011
22 or all of 2010 or all of 2009.
23 The idea that we are sure there's a crisis is
24 false. There may or may not be a long-term crisis.
25 Certainly, the market is moving in the right direction.
39 1 And I think we ought to focus on market-based solutions to
2 the pension problem rather than cutting the benefits of
3 long-time State workers.
4 Thank you very much.
5 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN ADOLPH: Thank you, Rep. Cohen.
6 For the viewers at home, Rep. Cohen represents a
7 section in Philadelphia, District 202.
8 REP. COHEN: Northeast Philadelphia.
9 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN ADOLPH: Thank you.
10 REP. COHEN: Thank you.
11 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN ADOLPH: The next testifier
12 will be Rep. Pam DiLissio, also from Philadelphia and
13 Montgomery Counties, District 194.
14 REP. DiLISSIO: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
15 A copy of my remarks have been submitted.
16 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN ADOLPH: Thank you.
17 REP. DiLISSIO: Over the past three weeks, I have
18 made the time to hear the testimony of many of the State
19 departments. Time is a valuable resource. And on behalf
20 of my constituents, I choose to spend time to learn and
21 understand how our tax dollars are proposed to be spent by
22 the Legislature and Administration. Indeed, the devil is
23 in the details and I have found my attendance at the
24 hearings as time well spent.
25 All citizens know that dollars are not limitless
40 1 and spending priorities must be made. They elect us with
2 the confidence, I hope, to set those priorities for the
3 greater good of the citizens of this Commonwealth.
4 In my opinion, the current economic climate has
5 forced government to behave more like the private sector,
6 taking a hard look at efficiencies, effectiveness, process,
7 and procedure.
8 In fact, I heard much testimony about operating
9 more efficiently and, quite frankly, as a taxpayer and
10 voter, I would have thought that some of the things I heard
11 discussed would have been standard operating procedure over
12 the years as opposed to actions being taken more recently
13 in response to the current economic climate.
14 There was also much discussion about enhancing
15 technology. There was some startling discussion about
16 upgrading from DOS and COBALT systems, systems that most
17 organizations and companies replaced at least a decade ago.
18 I believe that the return on investment on the
19 taxpayers' dollars will be significant, not to mention the
20 fact that the citizens will be better served. These
21 IT-related requests require our serious consideration.
22 Our State budget must balance the needs of all
23 citizens. We need to be cognizant of the fact that many of
24 those citizens are the least able to advocate for their own
25 needs. They are not represented by PACS, nor do they have
41 1 the capability to influence the process and outcome by
2 writing campaign checks.
3 Conversely, I find myself concerned when line
4 items in the budget, not to mention legislation, appear to
5 be influenced by special interests.
6 We often consider public policy for the greater
7 good but often deviate by diluting that policy based on the
8 influence of special interests that are well financed. For
9 the past 27 months, I have been an observer and a
10 participant in the legislative process.
11 I have witnessed budget decisions that have
12 created chaos, harmed citizens, and in the short and long
13 run pursued dubious policy that cost the State more money
14 than was saved. I find it interesting that often the State
15 chooses not to track information that does not support
16 their budget decisions.
17 The Department of Public Welfare, hopefully soon
18 to be renamed the Department of Human Services, budget is
19 about one-third of the General Fund budget. I want to
20 highlight a past mistake and encourage the General
21 Assembly, my colleagues in the General Assembly, to avoid a
22 future similar error. The past mistake was Act 22 of 2011,
23 which authorized the Secretary of the Department to make
24 unfettered program changes, the impacts of which continue
25 to be felt.
42 1 The current mistake I hope we can avoid is
2 failing to plan for Medicaid expansion in conjunction with
3 the Affordable Care Act. Medicaid expansion is the
4 quintessential opportunity to do good and do well. We can
5 do good by expanding this program and then the Commonwealth
6 would be able to insure about 500,000 citizens that are
7 currently uninsured, many of whom are steady members of our
8 workforce. The "doing well" is represented by the
9 significant economic impact that will be experienced as a
10 result of the expansion.
11 Our taxpayers contributed to the Federal dollars
12 that will pay for Medicaid expansion in other states and
13 deserve to have access to that coverage in Pennsylvania.
14 Instead, if we opt out of Medicaid expansion, we could lose
15 this critical health care coverage that will serve those
16 most in need, a loss that could be the result of politics
17 at play instead of public policy for the greater good.
18 In reference to the revenue side of the
19 Governor's proposed budget, the Governor's budget assumes
20 savings from pension reform by contemplating a payment
21 significantly less than required by law. If pension reform
22 does not happen at all, let alone happen timely, then there
23 will be a significant budget shortfall.
24 Also, the Governor's proposed pension reform puts
25 local school boards in an uncertain position because local
43 1 school boards will need to make a decision as to whether or
2 not they should revise next year's budgets based on the
3 Governor's proposal.
4 As well, relating to the privatization of the
5 Fine Wine and Spirits stores and education funding and
6 schools, the Governor holds out a carrot to the school
7 districts through restricted receipts revenue from the sale
8 of the stores, funds which are listed in the proposed
9 budget but would not be available until fiscal year 2015.
10 The proposals for the Fine Wine and Spirits
11 stores and pension reform remind me of a previous like
12 initiative that the Legislature approved. The Legislature
13 proceeded under similar expectations, counting on revenue
14 that required significant heavy lifting to produce, as it
15 pertained to Act 44 of 2008 for the tolling of Route 80.
16 The Federal Government turned down that
17 application not once but twice. And we are still
18 experiencing the effects of that missing revenue.
19 If we pass the proposed budget that contemplates
20 pension reform and the privatization of the Fine Wines and
21 Spirits stores, we will be repeating that same method of
22 operation and subsequently have a tremendous void.
23 It is well documented that the Commonwealth is in
24 desperate need of adequate transportation funding. The
25 Governor's budget proposal falls far short of his own
44 1 advisory commission's recommendations. It is my hope that
2 those recommendations will be adopted in their entirety to
3 fund the Commonwealth's transportation needs.
4 I believe that the budget is the most important
5 task for which the Legislature is responsible. I discuss
6 the budget in most of my Town Hall meetings, 21 to date in
7 the past 27 months, and will continue to include the budget
8 on my Town Hall agendas.
9 Citizens need to understand how the budget
10 process works and how to have their voices heard during
11 budget debate.
12 Last year, during the Appropriations hearings, I
13 was struck by the fact that there is no mechanism to get
14 public input for the budget other than constituents
15 contacting their State Representative, their State Senator,
16 or the Governor. Even though Appropriations hearings are
17 public events, the public cannot participate in the
18 hearings.
19 As a result of that realization, in May of last
20 year, I hosted a budget hearing in the 194th, and if you
21 lived or worked in the District, you could testify. I was
22 very impressed with the almost five hours of testimony and
23 the level of engagement of Jane and John Q. Citizen,
24 not-for-profit organizations, and business entities that
25 took the time to testify. Due to the success of last
45 1 year's event, I will be hosting another budget hearing in
2 the 194th this May.
3 I ask that the budget debates over the next
4 several months keep in mind that the budget must address
5 and balance the needs of all those who call the
6 Commonwealth home and request a process whereby
7 representatives from both parties are at the table
8 throughout budget negotiations.
9 Chairman Adolph and Chairman Markosek, on behalf
10 of my constituents, I thank you for this opportunity to
11 provide this testimony.
12 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN ADOLPH: Thank you,
13 Representative. Have a good afternoon.
14 REP. DiLISSIO: Kind of like, here's your hat,
15 what's the hurry?
16 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN ADOLPH: We'll now hear from
17 Rep. Dean.
18 REP. DEAN: Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman. Good
19 afternoon, members of the committee.
20 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN ADOLPH: Good afternoon.
21 REP. DEAN: I think I just wanted to be on this
22 side of the table.
23 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN ADOLPH: Right.
24 REP. DEAN: Really, I thank you for the
25 opportunity to address the Committee.
46 1 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN ADOLPH: Thank you.
2 REP. DEAN: For the last three weeks, we've heard
3 testimony from Pennsylvania departments and agencies. And
4 as members of the Appropriations Committee, it's been a
5 true honor for me to participate in this process and to
6 have an opportunity to address many members of the
7 Governor's Cabinet.
8 I thank you, Chairman Adolph, for your approach
9 to these meetings. You have allowed members great freedom
10 of questioning. You've shown great leadership.
11 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN ADOLPH: Thank you very much.
12 REP. DEAN: I also thank Chairman Markosek for
13 his leadership, his decency, his extraordinary hard work on
14 this Committee.
15 MINORITY CHAIRMAN MARKOSEK: Thank you,
16 Representative.
17 REP. DEAN: I want to talk about priorities.
18 Budgets reflect priorities. As I mentioned earlier this
19 morning, how we budget is really how we define ourselves.
20 And this budget is a collection of the Governor's
21 priorities for our Commonwealth.
22 And I'm sure the Governor bases his decisions on
23 what he believes is best for Pennsylvania. But as we have
24 seen in many of these hearings, some of his priorities are
25 misguided and represent missed opportunities. I'll
47 1 highlight a few in terms of what is misguided in my
2 opinion.
3 The privatizing of profits, the socializing of
4 pains through the privatizing of the liquor stores. The
5 Governor has once again proposed selling the State's system
6 of liquor stores. I know he believes that the State system
7 is antiquated and that the private sector can do it better.
8 However, as we are continuing to recover from the
9 worst recession in our time, now is not the time to
10 eliminate 5,000 good-paying jobs and give away a valuable
11 asset that returns yearly over $100 million in profit in
12 addition to the hundreds of million dollars in tax revenue.
13 What's more, I find the Governor's linking the
14 sale of liquor stores and increasing education funding
15 objectionable. We have a constitutional obligation to
16 provide a public education for our children. It is not a
17 contingent or one-time obligation. Our children's real
18 passport to learning is our Pennsylvania Constitution.
19 Two budgets have passed by this Governor. And
20 I'm not sure why he has not worked to dedicate profit from
21 the liquor store sales to education. This would be
22 continuing funding, not a one-time infusion.
23 On Medicaid expansion, 500,000 of our most
24 vulnerable citizens would be covered and billions of
25 dollars would be infused into our economy if Governor
48 1 Corbett allows and follows the leadership of other
2 Governors around the country, Republican and Democrat, to
3 accept Medicaid expansion.
4 Just today a new poll came out showing that the
5 majority of Pennsylvanians support such expansion.
6 Pennsylvanians' Federal tax dollars are paying for this
7 program whether or not we expand. So let's take advantage
8 of these Federal dollars, especially in light of a recent
9 court opinion ordering the Governor to spend Pennsylvania's
10 share of the tobacco settlement funds on health care rather
11 than on other programs. I urge Governor Corbett to change
12 his position on this.
13 And finally, on missed opportunities. Lastly, we
14 continue to inadequately tax the severance of Marcellus
15 Shale, a resource that, as the Pennsylvania Constitution
16 states, quote, are the common property of all people,
17 including generations to come. I'm particularly mindful of
18 generations to come.
19 We talk about big-ticket items, big-ticket
20 problems in this budget, such as education, pensions,
21 transportation, infrastructure. By a conservative
22 estimate, we are losing out on $24 billion in revenue over
23 the next 20 years by not taxing the extraction of this
24 valuable public resource.
25 We could eliminate the urgency in our voices and
49 1 in our budget of how we discuss these big-ticket items and
2 possibly even eliminate the issue by enacting an adequate
3 extraction tax on the industry, a tax, by the way, the
4 industry fully expected.
5 I appreciate the opportunity to address this
6 Committee. And I hope the Governor takes a second look at
7 our commitment to education, health care, jobs, the
8 economy, and revenue.
9 Thank you very much, Chairman Adolph.
10 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN ADOLPH: Thank you,
11 Representative. Have a good afternoon.
12 REP. DEAN: Thank you.
13 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN ADOLPH: Is Rep. Mark Gillen
14 here?
15 REP. GILLEN: I am.
16 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN ADOLPH: Thank you for being
17 here, Representative. Good afternoon.
18 REP. GILLEN: Good afternoon.
19 Thank you for your distinguished work, Chairman
20 Adolph, Chairman Markosek, and Committee members.
21 I know it's been an endurance contest. Thank
22 you. You always look attentive and fresh. And I commend
23 the work that you do on Appropriations.
24 I was driving in today after a visit to the
25 dentist's office. And I called my mother, so my testimony
50 1 will probably be a little bit unique with respect to
2 several issues that I want to raise.
3 I asked my mother a question with regard to
4 something I read about in the newspaper that I received a
5 constituent note regarding. This was gastric bypass
6 surgery that was paid for with Medicaid dollars.
7 This individual here in this newspaper story in
8 the Reading Eagle received a $25,000 procedure at taxpayer
9 expense. The copay was $6. At this particular clinic
10 where she received the surgery, there were 61 other
11 commensurate surgeries under Medicaid this past year.
12 My mother characterized this -- and I can't do
13 any better than that -- as ridiculous. When I looked at
14 2010, I looked at our Medicaid expenditures, over $5
15 billion in the Commonwealth and over $12 billion in Federal
16 dollars, approximately $18 billion worth of expense.
17 And I look around the Commonwealth and I see
18 deteriorating infrastructure, I see bridges that need
19 assistance, I see highways that need paving. And it occurs
20 to me that an individual like this, who no doubt the
21 Commonwealth is overfeeding at some level, then we turn
22 around and pay for a bariatric surgery for the same
23 individual.
24 Now, this may seem like an impolite subject
25 before the Committee, but it was a matter of public record
51 1 in the local newspaper. And I had a constituent say to me,
2 I'm sending you this news story. And I believe it
3 represents excessive spending by Medicaid. I control my
4 weight by eating less. And tells a little bit about their
5 story there.
6 I think we need to take a hard look at our
7 budget, how we spend State dollars and how we allocate our
8 scarce resources.
9 I carry this around in my pocket, so it's a
10 little bit folded up. It says, our taxes are causing us to
11 sell our homes since I -- or, we, in the case of a couple
12 -- only have enough for one more year in the home we raised
13 our five children and all our grandchildren who come home
14 for the holidays.
15 I think this is an issue that is a matter of
16 right and wrong, keeping seniors especially in their homes
17 and families in their homes. We have wrestled with this
18 issue of property tax.
19 And while I was on the phone with my mother, I
20 asked her about her own property tax because of the
21 reassessment that's occurring in Philadelphia. She can
22 barely make it. Now, that falls to us. That's part of our
23 responsibility.
24 But I got a text message from my brother last
25 night that she was considering selling her home. This is
52 1 not something that's happening to somebody out there in the
2 hinterland. It's happening to our mothers and our
3 grandmothers and our colleagues.
4 And I can pay my property taxes. And I can pay
5 additional taxes when it comes to Medicaid. But there's a
6 group of people out there that cannot.
7 And this infrastructure is crying out for
8 immediate attention. I couldn't disagree with anything my
9 colleague from Schuykill County said with regard to the
10 liquor stores. If they're sold and that happens, then I
11 can't think of a better place for those dollars to go than
12 roads and bridges.
13 Lastly, this is in the opinion section of the
14 Reading Eagle and it refers to community colleges. I do
15 not have a community college in my district. But Reading
16 Area Community College is closeby. In the Commonwealth, we
17 have 14 community colleges. We've got about a dozen
18 branches and 122 instructional sites in 44 counties. It's
19 all over the Commonwealth.
20 The City of Reading has 13 failing schools, if
21 you will, that are eligible for opportunity scholarships.
22 That's out of 20 schools. Our community college -- and I
23 say our community college in a generic sense -- is a
24 backstop for the Reading School District.
25 If we dismiss our community colleges in an urban
53 1 core where students can walk to class -- they don't even
2 need traditional transportation -- then I think we neglect
3 this educational institution to our own peril.
4 The editorial says these community colleges are
5 more critical than ever and require at least a modest
6 increase. And I would not disagree with that assertion. I
7 started at a community college and got several degrees in
8 between my last trip to a community college where I was
9 doing Con-Ed work in emergency technician license.
10 I would like to advocate for three things here:
11 sell the liquor stores, use that money for infrastructure,
12 take a harder look at property tax from the perspective of
13 people out there that are being dismissed from their own
14 homes. And it doesn't get less expensive for those people
15 and it doesn't get less expensive for the State. It gets
16 more expensive for the State.
17 I'm on the Aging Committee. We try to find ways
18 to keep people in their homes to save precious dollars. I
19 met with the secretaries of various committees. At each
20 level, if you look at the wastefulness that we are
21 incurring educationally, Aging Committee and others,
22 because people are not in a stable environment -- and
23 students learn best when they're anchored in the community,
24 anchored in their homes, and not bouncing as transients
25 from one educational institution to another and one teacher
54 1 to another.
2 We've got a moral responsibility to protect life
3 and to protect property in this Commonwealth. And I hope
4 cooperatively we can all do a better job at it.
5 Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Committee.
6 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN ADOLPH: Thank you,
7 Representative. Have a good afternoon.
8 REP. GILLEN: Thank you.
9 (The following remarks were submitted in writing
10 by Rep. James Roebuck.)
11 I want to thank the House Appropriations
12 Committee for providing me with the opportunity to present
13 written testimony concerning the Governor's proposed budget
14 for 2013-2014. I ask that my testimony be included in the
15 record of presentations made to the Appropriations
16 Committee.
17 As Democratic Chairman of the House Education
18 Committee, I wanted to address several concerns I have
19 about the Corbett Administration's budget proposal
20 regarding funding for basic and higher education for our
21 citizens and children.
22 I am disappointed that the Governor's proposal
23 does little to make up for the nearly $1 billion cut in
24 basic education funding over the last two years. The
25 Governor's proposed $90 million increase represents only a
55 1 1.7 percent for basic education and would only represent
2 flat funding, due to inflation. At this pace, it would
3 take ten years to get back to the funding level our
4 children's schools had in 2010-2011.
5 Contrary to the claims of the Governor's Office,
6 the fact is that the Corbett Administration has cut not
7 only Federal stimulus funding but also $900 million in
8 State funding, including funding for kindergarten, early
9 childhood education, tutoring, and reimbursements to school
10 districts for charter schools.
11 Even the inadequate 1.7 percent increase is
12 tainted because wealthier school districts will get larger
13 percentage basic funding increases than lower-income
14 districts.
15 The following examples of percentage increase
16 funding for school districts illustrate this point:
17 The four distressed districts in fiscal recovery
18 status: Duquesne, 0.73 percent increase; Chester Upland,
19 0.97 percent; Harrisburg, 1.19 percent; York, 1.25 percent.
20 The two largest and poorer cities' school
21 districts: Philadelphia, 1.47 percent; Pittsburgh, 0.75
22 percent.
23 Wealthier districts: Radnor, 2.7 percent; Upper
24 Merion, 2.7 percent; Lower Merion, 2.9 percent; Fox Chapel,
25 3.1 percent; Manheim Township, Lancaster County, 4.1
56 1 percent.
2 I would note that in his testimony to the
3 Appropriations Committee last week, Education Secretary
4 Tomalis explained that the additional $90 million for basic
5 education was to be distributed not based on the school
6 district but on the students at $96 per student adjusted
7 for poverty as measured by the school district's aid ratio.
8 The problem is that if this additional funding
9 was supposed to be based on the student and not the school
10 district, then why did they use as the measurement of
11 poverty a school district's measure of wealth rather than a
12 more appropriate measure of poverty based on the student,
13 namely, free and reduced school lunch eligibility. If the
14 more valid free and reduced school lunch eligibility had
15 been used, then proposed funding for lower-income districts
16 would be significantly increased.
17 Favoring wealthier school districts over poorer
18 school districts in basic education funding was also the
19 case when it came to cutting funding to school districts in
20 the Governor's first two budgets. When the Corbett
21 Administration cut basic education funding in its first two
22 years, the per-student cuts were larger for poorer school
23 districts than for wealthier school districts.
24 Clearly, the Corbett Administration favors
25 wealthier school districts in basic education funding
57 1 whether it is cutting funding or restoring funding. State
2 basic education funding is supposed to foster greater
3 education equality and opportunity between school
4 districts, not make it worse, which is what the Corbett
5 Administration is doing.
6 A final major concern I have with basic education
7 funding in this budget is that it appears to be contingent
8 on enactment of the Governor's pension reform proposals. I
9 fear that if the Governor does not get his way on pension
10 reform that he claims will save $175 million, that the $90
11 million increase in basic education funding is in danger of
12 being eliminated.
13 Additionally, the proposed $1 billion in one-time
14 funds for school districts is contingent on enactment of
15 the Governor's liquor privatization plan.
16 I believe that neither the $90 million increase
17 in basic education nor the $1 billion in one-time funding
18 for school districts should be held hostage to other
19 Governor proposals on pension reform or liquor
20 privatization or any other proposal. Our children's
21 education should never be held hostage to promote other
22 reckless policy proposals.
23 Increasing capital funding needs of basic and
24 higher education are not addressed in the Governor's budget
25 proposal. There is no increase in funding to reimburse
58 1 school districts that have already started needed school
2 construction projects. This is already resulting in school
3 districts having to pick up the State share of payments on
4 their school construction bonds and will likely lead to
5 property tax increases.
6 It also appears that there will be a continuation
7 of a moratorium on new needed construction by school
8 districts. This continuing construction moratorium will
9 affect not only our school district construction needs but
10 adversely affect our construction industry and
11 construction-related jobs as potential school construction
12 projects are placed on hold due to the moratorium.
13 Additionally, there is no new funding for
14 building maintenance needed by public higher education
15 institutions and particularly for community college needs.
16 How can we expect to meet the workforce needs of our
17 businesses if we do not have the facilities needed,
18 particularly by community colleges, to train the workers of
19 our new economy?
20 Finally, higher education was flat funded and no
21 effort has been made to restore the 20 percent cuts in
22 higher education funding since the beginning of the Corbett
23 Administration.
24 I would note that while the flat funding of
25 higher education this year was one of the recommendations
59 1 in the Governor's Commission on Higher Education, the
2 Governor did not commit to the other part of the
3 Commission's higher education funding recommendation to
4 increase funding by $256 million for the next two years
5 starting in 2014 through performance-based funding.
6 Higher education institutions have committed, in
7 their support of the recommendations of the Governor's
8 Commission on Higher Eduction, to hold the line on tuition
9 increases if they were at least flat funded in this year's
10 budget. They are counting on increased performance-based
11 funding of $256 million over the next two years starting in
12 2014 as recommended by the Governor's own Commission on
13 Higher Education.
14 We have yet to hear from the Corbett
15 Administration a commitment to this increased funding. I
16 hope that the Corbett Administration will commit, as our
17 higher education institutions have committed, to future
18 increased investments in higher education for our citizens
19 and students.
20 In closing, I want to once again thank the House
21 Appropriations Committee for providing me with the
22 opportunity to present written testimony concerning the
23 Governor's proposed budget for 2013-2014.
24 I'd like to remind all the members of the General
25 Assembly and the public that unlike other areas of public
60 1 policy, we have a constitutional requirement to provide a
2 thorough and efficient system of public education for the
3 benefit of all our students and citizens of our
4 Commonwealth. There can be no more-important investments
5 in our State's future than investing in our children's
6 education.
7 I am hopeful that we can improve on the
8 inadequate funding of education in this year's Governor's
9 budget and make greater investments in education in future
10 years.
11 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN ADOLPH: Chairman Markosek for
12 some closing comments.
13 MINORITY CHAIRMAN MARKOSEK: Well, thank you,
14 Mr. Chairman. It's been three weeks now. And I think you
15 and I are kind of tied at the hip here. It's been a very
16 good three weeks. I want to thank, first of all, the
17 members of the Committee on both sides of the aisle.
18 They've been wonderful. They've had a lot of good
19 questions.
20 And I know you share with me when I say that
21 without our great staff that we both have on our
22 committees, our jobs and the members on our Committee would
23 not be able to do anywhere near what they do on a daily
24 basis here.
25 I want to thank the secretaries for coming in.
61 1 For the most part, the secretaries and commissioners were,
2 in my opinion, pretty candid and pretty well prepared and
3 were there to answer some very, very tough and pointed
4 questions at times.
5 The budget really, in a sense, is just starting
6 now. We've had the Governor's proposal and we've had the
7 hearings on it. But as we all know, there's a long way to
8 go. The four caucuses of the House and Senate will all
9 weigh in. My guess, educated guess, having been here a
10 long time, is each one of those caucuses will have a
11 slightly different budget. So there's really going to be
12 five budget proposals floating around here before June 30th
13 of this year when we have our deadline to get the budget
14 put together.
15 I look forward to working with you personally.
16 You've been great. You've been a good sport. You've been
17 gracious. You've allowed our members to ask, in many
18 cases, tough questions. I couldn't ask for a better
19 partner here, even though we don't agree on everything. We
20 know that going in at the beginning of the day. But it's
21 been a pleasure to work with you and the Committee. And I
22 look forward to moving forward as we go along here in the
23 next few months to get the budget done.
24 Thank you.
25 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN ADOLPH: Thank you, Chairman
62 1 Markosek.
2 And I echo those comments regarding staff and the
3 members of this Committee. It was a long three weeks, but
4 very interesting. Certainly, every member here is entitled
5 to ask as many tough questions as they would like. I'd
6 just them to answer in a faster manner. That's all.
7 That being said, Chairman Markosek is correct.
8 There are probably going to be a couple more budget
9 proposals floating around. Our job is to get a consensus.
10 The diversity of this Commonwealth is what it is.
11 And what we need to do is just come together. No budget is
12 perfect. No Governor has ever proposed a budget that
13 became law. So we will continue to work for the betterment
14 of the Pennsylvania residents. And I can tell you this, we
15 will have a budget done on time by June 30th.
16 Thank you very much. I enjoyed working with you.
17 Thank you.
18 (The hearing concluded at 2:15 p.m.)
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
63 1 I hereby certify that the proceedings and
2 evidence are contained fully and accurately in the notes
3 taken by me on the within proceedings and that this is a
4 correct transcript of the same.
5
6
7
8 Jean M. Davis 9 Notary Public
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
64