PA Debt and Spending Continue to Rise
February 18, 2010
Dear Editor:
Pennsylvania taxpayers are mired in recession, unemployment rates continue to swell, and taxes and fees from school districts and local and county municipalities are increasing. And though private sector wages and salaries have been frozen and benefits reduced or eliminated, the cost of everything – from energy and health care, to prescription drugs and more – continues to rise.
The solution, according to Governor Ed Rendell’s proposed 2010-11 budget: Increase government spending by $1.2 billion, for a total $29-billion budget that represents $9 billion in new spending since 2002. That’s a 45-percent increase in just eight years – far outpacing the rate of inflation.
In addition to this out-of-control spending, Rendell and state legislators have increased state debt by $18 billion to a massive $41 billion — a 78-percent increase in that same time period.
And that’s not all. In 2012, Pennsylvania taxpayers will face a massive increase in two state pension plans that will grow from $1 billion per year to $3 billion per year. That’s $240 for every man, woman and child in Pennsylvania for the next five years. Then it jumps to $16.7 billion for the subsequent five years.
In addition to increasing spending by 4.5 percent in this upcoming budget, the governor wants to add 74 new taxes that will cost taxpayers an additional $530 million in 2010 and $900 million in 2011. He also wants to tax Pennsylvania businesses an additional $66 million.
With this in mind, it is becoming increasingly clear to any reasonable person that excessive government spending at every level has reached the point of total economic collapse. This is another prime example of why taxpayers across the country are in revolt!
Sincerely,
Ralph J. Pontillo
Manufacturer & Association Business
President