Pattye Benson

Community Matters

Supporting Corbett’s Budget, Rep Kampf claims it a “Victory for All Taxpayers”

I received an official email from Rep Warren Kampf supporting the newly approved state budget and claiming that it a “victory for all taxpayers”. Included in the email was a YouTube video of Kampf’s remarks presented last night in Harrisburg. The 4 min. video contains something for everyone . . . I encourage you to watch it and look forward to your comments.

Hear my Floor Remarks from Last Night’s Budget Vote

I heard you.
Last night was a victory for all taxpayers because after eight years of uncontrolled spending and borrowing, we have brought fiscal discipline back to state government.?

View my remarks

This budget recognizes the financial burdens we’ve placed on our families and reverses these trends by reducing spending and rejecting tax increases when people can least afford them.

I also knew we could do a better job prioritizing spending than the governor did in his proposal, and we have. Local schools will receive millions of dollars more than proposed. For example, we were able to restore $1.276 million to the Tredyffrin-Easttown School District alone.

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  1. If he cannot say that funding ws restaored to TESD, you cannot claim that the state has a 700MM surplus. It’s all government accounting. The “surplus” is like spending transfer tax……
    Politics are clearly annoying but provacative to you. Is it really so shocking that a newly elected Republican would fawn over the party? You were prominent in defending the Dwight Evans donation, weren’t you?

    1. “If I didn’t know better, I would swear Kampf is trying to get his name into consideration to run against Bob Casey for US Senate next year.”

      If that happened, WK would be sucked down into a Charybdis-like whirlpool, never to be heard or seen again. There is no chance that this will happen, however. There is no way the GOP will let this single-term, back-bench member of the General Assembly be their standard-bearer against (the bland, but inoffensive) Casey.

      “we even have our own local version of Michelle Bachman and Sarah Palin!!”

      Now that’s just mean.

  2. Great work Warren! You were part of an effort that delivered a budget that held the line on taxes. You did it well ahead of schedule. . .something that has not been done in 9 years. Equally impressive, you reduced spending by 3% from last fiscal year while helping to pump another $1.27 million into the T/E School District’s coffers. A truly remarkable feat!

    Compared to the financial disasters taking place in California and many other States, it is easy to see why Pennsylvania is rapidly becoming the budgetary envy of the nation.

    1. “I’m now nearly 100% convinced you are Sean Dempsey”

      He, he, he, ha, ha, ha…keep guessing John Petersen. I am far more handsomer than Sean Dempsey.

      As for local school taxes going up: Both Harrisburg and the Tredyffrin Township Board of Supervisors succeeded in getting their financial houses in order. Hopefully the School Board can learn something from them.

  3. Let’s look at some facts…

    1. The state lost more than a billion dollars in federal stimulus funding, so calling everything a “cut” isn’t necessarily true in terms of state dollars to state dollars. In fact, the state dollars going to education are more than they were last year — and significantly more than in the Governor’s proposal,

    2. There is a $720 million surplus only if you turn a blind eye to upcoming obligations. That would be like looking at your checkbook balance and ignoring the stack of bills next to it…it would be dumb.

    In the very least, the courts are going to order the state to pay $800 million back to the MCard Fund because Gov. Rendell improperly spent that money on general expenditure items. That would mean that, even with the “surplus” the state has an $80 million deficit the moment the order comes through.

    3. Kampf did exactly what he said he would do: revisit the budget to reduce spending to a level the state could afford and do it without tax increases. Agree or disagree with that, it’s exactly what he did (and many others elected on the same message.)

  4. Looks like John is at it again. His hatred for kamps success is blinding.

    Maybe now Harrisburg will continue to address some of the terrible legislation previously implemented that got school districts in a bind.

    Just a thought.

  5. “not their time” was probably as offensive to John as Obama’s “we won” statement. And for President Obama, the chickens are coming home to roost.

    It’s becoming less and less of “their time” if “their” refers to big spending, high taxing high regulation legislation. No john, “their” time is UP!

  6. What tax “breaks” does the gas industry get? They pay the same exact tax as every other similar industry (coal, oil) in the state as well as other businesses.

    If you are calling the lack of a new, additional severance tax a “break,” than every single taxpayer in the state gets “breaks” because they could be subjected to new, additional taxes.

    Kampf has said repeatedly he supports something at the well head — he said it last year during the campaign. But, as shown in the last two weeks in Harrisburg, there is no concensus on this within the house, the senate or even each political caucus.

    Rural reps or those in areas affected by drilling want the money to be an impact fee that stays local / those in areas outside of drilling want a tax that goes to the general fund so they can siphon off their “share” / others want any money to go to environmental funds only.

    Despite what your opinion (or the opinion of anyone else), this issue isn’t as black and white as people want it to be because each of the differing opinions have valid points.

    In the end, there will be some sort of new/additional tax or fee on the natural gas drillers. The question is: what will they come up with that satisfies the differing needs/goals?

    As for your “surplus” of $700MM, what do you do when the MCare bill comes due for $800MM if you’ve already spent the money? Raise taxes or cut something else. It’s called planning ahead.

  7. “What really took me aback was his statement where he said, in effect, that there are those in his district that either don’t agree with some parts of the budget or don’t agree with the budget in its entirety. He then went on to say that “this is NOT THEIR TIME.” That was code… It’s as if Mr. Kampf has created his own personal 5/8th’s clause…that those who don’t agree with him entirely are not whole people…and thus…not worthy of representation.”

    I would agree. Why take to the floor and make this speech? It was arrogant, not at all conciliatory. He stuck his thumb in the eye of everyone who didn’t vote for him. He came across as self-centered and pedantic, sulky and sullen and feeling the need, seemingly, to legitimize himself, like some kind of irritable step-father.

  8. I would like to know Warren’s response to the budget deficit as cited by the Chris Friend piece below, particularly the second paragraph mentioning last year’s ghost revenue that supposedly balanced the budget then:

    http://blogs.phillymag.com/the_philly_post/2011/06/30/gov-onorato%E2%80%94er-corbett%E2%80%94gives-unions-a-sweetheart-deal/

    “…While we’re on the subject of the state’s finances, let’s set the facts straight about the current budget. Reducing the budget by four percent is a good thing, but was inevitable after the loss of federal stimulus dollars. Had he won the governorship, Dan Onorato would have signed a budget almost exactly the same as the one Corbett did. For that matter, even Governor Spendell, who never saw a spending increase he didn’t like, would have been forced to reduce the budget to close the $4.2 billion budget deficit—which, in reality, is closer to $7 billion because no one in Harrisburg wants to address the real fiscal situation.

    The budget, which is constitutionally required to be balanced, was passed last year on ghost revenue: $400 million from the tolling of Interstate 80 (which never got tolled); $800 million raided from the MCARE fund (used to offset high medical malpractice rates) which, in all likelihood, will be ordered repaid by the State Supreme Court; federal Medicaid dollars that were budgeted to be $800 million but actually amounted to $595 million; and a $1.1 billion revenue shortfall after 10 months of last year’s fiscal year.”

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