Senate Approves State Budget With No New Taxes

HARRISBURG – The state Senate today approved a $27.162 billion state budget for 2007-08 that does not include any tax increases and invests in education, according to Senator James J. Rhoades (R-29).

The budget agreement does not include any of the additional $2.5 billion in tax and fee increases proposed by Governor Rendell in his February 5, 2007 budget proposal. The 07-08 budget will also include the lowest rate of spending growth since Rendell took office in 2002. State spending will increase by approximately 3.2 percent, or 4.4 percent if an additional $317.5 million in dedicated mass transit funding is included.

Rhoades said that the bulk of spending increases were for education, public welfare and transportation. The spending plan also holds $300 million in reserve to deal with any fiscal issues that may arise in next year's budget.

"We need to continue to ensure we are not overburdening our taxpayers with unnecessary tax increases and bloated state spending," Rhoades said. "By defeating the Governor's proposed tax hikes and keeping the increase in state spending at a lower level than any year of this Governor's tenure, this budget compromise is a win for Pennsylvania taxpayers."

Rhoades said the budget will make strong investments in education. The spending plan includes $75 million for pre-kindergarten and $20 million for full-day kindergarten programs. Funding for accountability block grants will increase by $5 million to a total of $275 million. The budget allocates $34 million for charter school reimbursement and $29 million for special education.

"We will need to evaluate the effect of these spending increases on student performance to make sure this money is being spent wisely, but there are few investments we can make that are more important than improving our education system," Rhoades said. "I am confident that this funding will open new educational opportunities for our Commonwealth's students."

In all, the Department of Education will see a 6.2 percent increase. State System of Higher Education universities will also see a 3.5 percent increase.