Governor Rendell’s Proposed Budget Includes $354 Million in Increased School Funding

Governor Ed Rendell released his 2010-11 budget proposal yesterday. His budget proposes over $11 billion of taxpayer funding for educational services, which includes an increase of $354 million for school funding. Several reasons were cited for the funding increase including advances in achievement scores. In Governor Rendell’s proposed budget, education support services would receive $31.8 million in funding; basic education spending would receive $9.5 billion, for students in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade; and $1.8 billion for higher education with nearly $424 million of that allotted for financial assistance for students. State-aided private schools – including Drexel University and the University of the Arts in Philadelphia – would lose all their funding under the proposal. The exception is the University of Pennsylvania’s veterinary school.

Pennsylvania Secretary of Education Gerald Zahorchak offered that Pennsylvania was leading the nation in achievement improvements. Mr. Zaharchak emphasized a focus on increasing enrollment at a pre-kindergarten level. He feels that that there is an adequacy gap between where students should be performing and where they are currently performing which needs to be corrected. Mr. Zaharchak is suggesting that the gap would need to be filled by taxpayer funded state-subsidies. Accordingly, more than 300 Pennsylvania school districts would require more than $2,000 of taxpayer funding per student from the state to close this gap.

The pressures faced by school districts will result in local property tax hikes unless the state continues its commitment to close the adequacy gap, the Governor said. “On average, it would take a 40-percent increase in local property taxes to generate the same investment as the state will contribute over the course of our multi-year funding formula,” the Governor said. “When the state pays its fair share, school districts can keep property tax increases to a bare minimum.”

Here is Pennsylvania Department of Education 2010-11 Budget if you would like to read the details.

In case you are interested, here is Governor Rendell’s Executive Budget 2010-11 if you would like to see the entire proposed budget.

Will Governor Rendell’s proposed state budget have an impact on TESD’s 2010-11 budget?  Comments Anyone?

Specifics on Pennsylvania $161 Million Budget Cuts Announced

In December, Governor Rendell vowed to cut an additional $170 million from Pennsylvania’s state budget in order to make up for lower-than-anticipated tax revenues. It looks like the specifics of those cuts have now been finalized. Here is a press release with the specific cuts but I am confused. I thought that the recent approval of the tables games was to help the budget situation? And here I thought that the state was going to help us with the teacher’s pension contribution increase?  How is that going to be possible?

   Pennsylvania Budget Cuts Another $161 Million

Pennsylvania’s budget took another hit, as the state released details of a $161 million round of cuts, which Gov. Ed Rendell ordered last month. Each department was instructed to cut another one percent from its current budget and while some trimmed each program equally, other departments eliminated programs to make the cut.

The Department of Community and Economic Development shed almost $11 million, cutting in whole the $200,000 previously allotted for the Super Computer Center, $1.23 million for infrastructure technical assistance and $1 million for minority business development. Funding for agile manufacturing, powdered metals and digital & robotic technology, together less than $1 million, was also cut.

The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources lost $1 million even as its forest land fetched bids above $5,000 per acre today from natural gas drillers looking to tap into the Marcellus Shale. Cuts to the Department of Environmental Protection totaled $3.8 million and were an even one percent across all programs.

Education funding fell by $27.8 million, eliminating the $1.9 million mobile science education program, $400,000 of higher education assistance, and $2 million for community education councils.

In health services, a $2.6 million biotechnology research program was stripped of its funding. Children’s Hospital lost its $200,000 share from the Department of Emergency Management while the Children’s Institute of Pittsburgh had its $431,000 health appropriation cut to $215,000. Health care clinics that were due to receive $3 million from the Department of Public Welfare were cut from the budget, as were acute care hospitals, slated for $4.7 million in funding.

Several programs under the executive branch were eliminated, including safe neighborhoods, violence reduction, and $1.25 million for agricultural research, promotion, education and exports. Food marketing and research and the farm school nutrition initiatives were also axed.

Another $1 million was cut from the governor’s grants to the arts. Museums took another hit during this round.  Museums took another hit during this round. General museum assistance grants were slashed by a third and specific funding for the Carnegie Museum of National History and the Carnegie Science Center was cut in half from $113,000 each to $57,000.

 The Department of Labor and Industry cut is New Choices/New Options program, a $1.5 million initiative to retrain and place individuals looking for new careers.

Roulette & Blackjack Needed to Resolve State Budget

When I decided to begin writing Community Matters, I assumed it would be issues relating to Tredyffrin Township.  But I now recognize that exploring how other areas are handling similar situations makes for an interesting comparison.  Governor Rendell’s notion for solving some of the budget issues at the state level with an expansion of the table-games bill caught my attention.  Somewhere in the dark recess of my brain, I think someone told me that Tredyffrin’s past included ‘betting’ places, and I recall one was located where Barnes & Noble now stands; this was also before there was the Valley Forge Music Fair but I believe the betting window was at that general location.  Am I dreaming this?  If Bill DeHaven is reading this, perhaps he could weigh in . . . I’m thinking that this was back in the day when he was working in Tredyffrin as a local cop.  Anyway, this is how I move from Tredyffrin’s community to my interest in using roulette and blackjack to help the state budget problems.

The clock is ticking on the state budget. Although Governor Rendell signed the budget in October there remains an unresolved issue of the table-games bill. This table-games bill is estimated to be worth $250 Million in license fee and tax revenues to the state; the governor believes that the passage of the bill is necessary to keep the government running. The tables-games bill would permit blackjack and roulette games at slots parlors. Apparently the House and the Senate can not agree on whether to add another resort-casino license to the 14 slots licenses already authorized. There is also debate on how to distribute the gambling proceeds in Philadelphia. Part of this problem stems from Mayor Nutter’s unwillingness to give up the city’s control on the distribution of gambling proceeds. Mayor Nutter is absolute that gambling proceeds generated in Philadelphia should remain in Philadelphia.

If the table-games bill is not passed by January 8, there is a good possibility that 1,000 state employees will lose their jobs. During 2009, 800 state government jobs were cut as a result of the budget crisis and additionally 1,800 open state jobs went unfilled.

Another sad reality to the current state budget situation is that there is once again talk of closing state parks, the State Museum and decreasing discretionary grants. Many nonprofits (particularly historic preservation) are finding themselves in a precarious situation due to our nation’s economic downturn, so the idea of losing state grant opportunities is cause for concern. The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission laid off 85 employees last month which represented approximately one-third of their staff. They received the highest percent employee layoffs of any agency as part of the overall state employee downsizing. It is unclear how the Historic Commission would function if further cuts are imposed. As a member of the Tredyffrin’s Historic and Architectural Review Board (HARB), our board and all state HARBs and Historic Commissions rely heavily on the expertise and advice from the Historic Commission.

I am reaching out to our State House Rep Paul Drucker for his comments on the table-game bill — where do you stand?