tate Representative
Kate Harper
61st Legislative DistrictateHarper.net
FALL 2009
Dear Neighbor
,
Budget Impasse MeansOur Representative Democracy is Working
“It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried.”
– Sir Winston Churchill
he budget, required to be balanced by June0
h
each year, dragged on well into the dog daysof summer this year, a frustrating experience for legislators, and a frightening experience for stateworkers and others who depend on governmentto be paid. Group after group laid siege to thestate Capitol, begging the Governor and General Assembly to find funding for worthy programsfrom autism and arthritis to zoos. I heard frommany of you about the services and programsyou find important. I also heard from severalwho made it clear they did not want their taxesraised for any program.No one missing a paycheck wants to be toldthat state revenues are down $3 billion and thattough choices have to be made. (A “bridge” bud-get, adopted in August, allowed state workers tobe paid, but the larger issues remained).No hospital administrator trying to keep anemergency room open wants to hear that theGovernor’s budget eliminates the aid for hospi-tals that allows them to care for the uninsured.No college student will ever understand howthe House Democrats could vote for a budgetthat completely eliminated spending for higher education.No once-a-two-income-family-now-a-one-income family wants to hear their remainingpaycheck will shrink if the Governor’s budgetgets passed relying on a 16 percent (or higher)increase in the Personal Income Tax.Most citizens who pay the freight to makegovernment run are too busy working and rais-ing their families to understand the nuances of the different proposals and how they and their families will be affected. They understand thatwhen retail sales are down, sales taxes lag aswell. They understand that when people get laidoff, they don’t pay income tax. They understandgood years — and they know this isn’t one of them. They “get” why there’s a deficit in thebudget and that there are different ways todeal with it.Most of you have made it clear that you don’twant your taxes increased in a recession unlessthere’s no other way to get the budget done. As your elected representative, I believe Iowe it to you and the 60,000 people I representto vote for a budget that sustains core servicesin a tough year without raising the PersonalIncome Tax and without eliminating aid to thehospitals that shoulder the load of caring for the poor and uninsured. Most of the public Irepresent believe their governments ought todo what
they
are doing – budgeting carefullyand cutting back on extras, vacations, splurgesand dinners out to make sure the money’s therefor the important things like the mortgage, food,health care and education.Many people told me they wanted us to dowhat they have done: face reality, tighten our belts and make do with less. As a legislator, I believe I owe it to thosewho sent me to Harrisburg to study eachproposal carefully and vote for the budget thatadequately funds necessary programs for theCommonwealth and my district without raisingincome taxes, and to vote against budgets thatdon’t meet that standard.I believe it’s possible to get the budget to bal-ance without eliminating necessary governmentservices and without raising taxes. I believe thisbecause I’ve seen it. There are actually a coupleof versions in Harrisburg that will do this.hus, the real budget battle in Harrisburgcomes down to two distinct philosophies – thosewho see a recession as a time to tighten our belts, reduce government spending and makedo with what we have or what we can get (likeusing federal stimulus funds or part of our ownRainy Day Fund) – and those who see a reces-sion and reduced government revenues as agood reason to raise taxes.here were real battles over what’s a neces-sary service in a tough economy. There werereal battles over what can be safely reducedand what needs increased funding in a reces-sion (unemployment, Medicaid, welfare). Therewere real battles between those who insist taxesmust be raised and those who want to reduce or eliminate programs. There were real battles over how to fund our schools. There are more subtlebattles over how much of a cut is too deep, toopainful, and cuts to the bone.
Our representative democracy was meantto work out these struggles in the GeneralAssembly just as we are doing these days.
t’s painfully slow. It’s disorganized andcontentious. It’s supposed to be.here are times in all of our lives when wemust clearly state what we stand for and whatwe will
no
stand for. This budget battle is oneof those times.
Be Safe:Call Before You Dig
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.
Rep. Kate Harperhosted threeconstituentbreakfastmeetings thissummer, includingone at the CentralMontco TechnicalHigh School. Thebreakfasts providethe opportunity totalk about people’sconcerns withwhat’shappening in theCommonwealthand in MontgomeryCounty.
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