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Contact Rep. Milne via email at dmilne@pahousegop.comWebsite: DuaneMilne.com ~ Phone: 610-251-1070District office: 18 E. Lancaster Ave. (Rts. 29 & 30), Malvern PA 19355
Duane
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Fiscal Conservatism: Leadership by Example
Dear Friend,
As we enter a new budget year for the state, I continue to be mind- ful that the policy decisions I make as your state legislator involvespending dollars that are not mine, but rather are yours, the people’s.In this newsletter, I give you a sense of our state budget, and some of the budget challenges facing us as a state.In addition, given the sluggish economic climate, I believe it is mor- ally imperative to be extra prudent as legislators with the tax dollars that we potentially could spend on ourselves. We cannot ask others to cut back if we ourselves are not doing likewise.As a matter of fiscal conservatism, please know that:
I do not accept nor drive a state car.I do not charge a cell phone to the taxpayers.I do not take offers to go on lobbyist-paid vacations.I have reduced mailings, while still meeting the equally important responsibility of keeping you appropriately informed.
I refused my paycheck for four months during last year’s budget stalemate, believing it was the right example to set.
I turned down my legislative pay raise for this fiscal year; in fact, I returned that money to the State Treasury.I have voluntarily done all of the above because I keep at the forefront of my thinking that you, the citizens, are my employers,and my job is to fight for wise and efficient spending of your tax dollars.
Rep. Milne’s Leadership Rolesin the Legislature
With over 3,000 bills introduced eachyear, the volume of legislation to be con-sidered is extraordinary. To help managethis workload, each legislator serves onsome of the 25 committees in the Houseof Representatives. Committees performa crucial role in evaluating bills and de-termining which ones will advance to thefloor for further debate and an eventualvote. As my time in the legislature hasadvanced, so too have my leadershipresponsibilities and, by extension, myability to serve you as constituents. For your information, here are mycurrent leadership assignments:
Intergovernmental Affairs Committee
- Co-chair, Federal-State Relations
Education Committee
Aging and Older Adults Committee
History Caucus- Co-chairman
Alternative Energy Caucus
Alzheimer’s Caucus
Bio-Technology Medical Caucus
Bipartisan Reform Caucus
Emergency Services Caucus
Women’s Health Caucus
Milne Votes Against Expansion of Gambling and Casinos
I am disappointed that legislation to expand gambling and casinos in Pennsylvania was signed into law this pastJanuary. Under this new law, casinos will be able to turn themselves into full-scale casinos, a la Las Vegas, and onecan expect more casinos to open across the state. I do not believe this policy direction of increasing reliance ongambling and casinos is right for our state and is why I voted against the legislation.First, the negative effects of gambling in the state likely will only become more widespread in times ahead. Pushingexpanded gambling will fuel some of the social and behavioral problems associated with problem gambling. Further,many concerns have been expressed thatmore casino activity and development will addto crime problems in the general surroundingareas of the establishments.Second, the property tax relief promisedto result because of gambling, and really theonly reason the original gambling legislationeven passed in 2004, has fallen rather short of predictions. For a Pennsylvania family who is actually receiving anyproperty tax relief, the amount of relief averages $180 a year. I harbor grave doubts that most Pennsylvania familieswill ever see much in the way of property tax relief from gambling, expanded or otherwise.Third, an ironic twist of the advent of gambling in Pennsylvania is that state lottery ticket sales have been stagnantthe past couple of years with sales actually down in areas near which casinos are located. This trend has been evi-
“I’m not interested in turning Pennsylvaniainto the Las Vegas of the East ... ”
- Rep. Milne declared in Harrisburg
Winter 2010
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Contact Rep. Milne via email at dmilne@pa
EXPENDITURES
As one can see in the expenditures pie graph, pre-K to12
th
education is the largest policy area to which the statedevotes funding. This section of the budget pie representsthe state dollars that are distributed across the 500 schooldistricts that comprise Pennsylvania. The most significantchallenge here is to re-engineer the state’s Education Fund-ing Formula so that state dollars are more properly alignedwith where in the state the dollars should flow. It is also aboutlessening Harrisburg control over education and reducingstate mandates in order to ease the property tax burden onlocal homeowners.Aggregating together the dozens of human servicesprograms for which the state is responsible requires, in total,38.6 percent of the budget. The largest expenditure areasare for medical assistance (18.5 percent) and children andyouth programs (5.7 percent).Corrections consumes close to 7 percent of the budget.The state is responsible for 51,000 inmates in 26 prisonsacross the Commonwealth. Albeit a sad commentary, itshould be pointed out that spending for this slice is the fast-est growing part of the budget, as it has been increasing anaverage of 6 percent a year over the past several years.Last year alone, expenditures on corrections increased byalmost 10 percent.
REVENUES
Per the data in the revenue pie chart, the state incometax and the state sales tax together make up over 60 percentof the entire General Fund revenue for the state. Pennsyl-vania ranks eleventh highest in the nation for overall taxburden, but our state income tax is the ninth lowest at 3.07percent. At 6 percent, our sales tax is the thirteenth highestin the nation.The bulk of the remaining revenue comes from variousbusiness taxes in the state. This includes the Corporate NetIncome (CNI) tax, the Gross Receipts Tax, the Capital Stockand Franchise Tax, as well as some of the Inheritance Taxand the Realty Transfer Tax.The main challenge to balancing a budget is of coursethe sluggish economy which has resulted in state tax rev-enue continuing to be down from what collections are innormal economic times. Total revenues going into last year’sbudget were $25.5 billion, $2.4 billion less than the previousyear. For this upcoming fiscal year, projections are showinga budget deficit of nearly half a billion dollars by June 30.Should the economy experience any additional setbacks,that number will increase.In case you are wondering, the state gas tax is collectedand treated separately from this General Fund budget. The32.3 cents paid on a gallon of gas in the state goes to theMotor License Fund, which is substantially dedicated tofunding highway and bridge needs in the state as well assome state police operations.
SPECIAL REPORT: FISCAL YEAR 2010-2PROPOSED PA STATE B
Unlike the national government, our state government does have a constitutional balanced budget provision, and governStill, as a state we need to exercise more fiscal restraint and get debt service closer to zero. I do not want excessivestate could use in better ways, including keeping down taxes for citizens.
ousegop.com ~ Website: DuaneMilne.com
11 BUDGET WILL PROVE CHALLENGINGDGET: $29.03 BILLION
Milne Holds theLine on Tax Hikes
In the midst of (eventually) balancinglast year’s budget, a number of taxincreases were proposed. I helped holdthe line against state tax increases inthis challenging fiscal climate.
Here were my stances onthe following proposed tax hikes:
Increasing the state’spersonal income tax (PIT)
YES
NO
Increasing the state’s sales tax
YES
NO
Imposing a tax on non-profit artsand cultural organizations
YES
NO
Imposing a tax on small games of chance run by volunteer fire companies and other types of charitable organizations
YES
NO
Rep. Milne raises a point at a recent committee hearing in Harrisburg.
dent just with slot machines now in thestate. Add table gaming to the equationand ticket sales could decrease evenfurther. This calls in to question whatrevenue will be available in the futurefor the senior citizen programs fundedby the lottery, including assistance withprescription drug purchases and freefares on public transportation.Fourth, more and more questionsare being brought to the forefrontabout legal issues surrounding theoperations of casinos, both those al-ready in place as well as some that areproposed to be opened. Investigationshave been launched in to why proper background checks were not con-ducted on some individuals seeking toown and operate casinos in the state.Further, explosive legal fights haveerupted, because of plans to placecasinos in spots where vehement localopposition exists to gambling opera-tions being forced upon them in their neighborhoods.As you can see, the status quo of gambling in Pennsylvania demandsserious scrutiny and accompanyingreform, which is a matter about whichI will continue to demand action.
GAMBLING
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ors are granted line-item veto power.debt service to drain away funds the
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