Local politicians speak out against Corbett’s budget

Many aren’t happy with all or parts of Pa. Gov. Tom Corbett’s proposed budget. Among them are State Rep. Brendan Boyle and Sen. Mike Stack.”I fully oppose Governor Corbett’s budget proposal, which slashes vital funding for programs that support the middle class and Pennsylvania’s vulnerable residents in the areas of basic and higher education, small business, senior issues and more,” Boyle said Tuesday.

Boyle’s statement included his particular concerns about higher education, and Corbett’s proposal to cut funding to state-related and state-owned universities by 50 percent, while Stack worried about the cuts suggested for community colleges.

Stack focused his concerns on health care.

“It is incredulous that the governor did not mention adultBasic in his budget address. Over 41,000 people were watching the budget address to see what would happen to their future, but they and the program that helps them was not worth a single mention today. It’s as if 41,000 Pennsylvanians have simply been forgotten,” he said.

The funding cut last week to adultBasic left more than 40,000 lower-income adults in the state without health coverage.

“The governor is asking middle-class families to bear the brunt of his cuts,” Boyle said. “But what is he asking of Big Oil? Nothing. He continues to oppose asking Big Oil to pay its fair share and pay a natural gas extraction tax. We continue to be the only major state in the nation without such a tax.”

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