PRSRT STDU.S. POSTAGEPAIDHARRISBURG, PAPERMIT NO. 529

TURZAI

THE

REPORT

Spring2010

2010-11 State Budget:Let’s Take the Opportunity to Protect Taxpayers

Governor Rendell’s 2010-11 budget proposalincreases spending by more than a billion dollars over thecurrent budget. We cannot continue down this path. Thisproposal just spends more of your hard-earned dollars.To pay for this spending, the Governor wants toincrease sales taxes overall by some $1 billion by makingyou pay sales taxes on new items. The tax would nowapply to such items as water and sewage, basic cable,land-line telephones, residential electric and others.His plan also expands the sales tax to servicesrendered, such as computer, accounting and legalservices. Many of these are small businesses which arethe life blood of our economy.It does not make sense to expand the sales tax,particularly when it is being used to increase taxes overalland to pay for more General Fund spending. We shouldnot increase any taxes. We need to cut spending, period.All aspects of government – the Legislature included – need to downsize.Keep in mind that spending has increased by about40 percent under this administration, while the rate of inflation was less than 20 percent over the same periodof time. I have consistently opposed this unsustainablespending. There was and is room for reducingexpenditures, particularly during a down economy.There was some frustration over last year’s budgetimpasse. The Governor wanted a massive increase inspending and an increase in the personal income tax topay for it. We opposed this approach.To stand strong for taxpayers, we put forth analternative budget that restored fiscal discipline butstill prioritized funding for education, hospitals and lawenforcement. We reduced overall spending by almost$1 billion. And most importantly, we required no newtaxes.We ended up with a budget that was slightly less thanthe prior year, but it still increased taxes. I voted againstthis package because it did not reduce spending enoughand increased taxes on job creators. It also relied toomuch on federal stimulus spending.We made significant headway in that we finally sawsome decrease in spending. The Governor first proposedincreasing spending by a billion dollars morethan the prior year. We did, in fact, stop the17 percent personal income tax increase theGovernor sought.I stood strong against the effort to increasethe personal income tax to pay for over onebillion dollars more in spending. If we wouldhave caved in, you would have been payingmore of your hard-earned income to Harrisburg.This would have been wrong!As we approach the 2010-11 budgetnegotiations, we need to get the state’s fiscalhouse in order. We need to hold the line ontaxes – and ultimately need to reduce them.Families and businesses across Pennsylvaniahave tightened their belts. We must do the samein Pennsylvania.Follow my web site at www.RepTurzai.comto stay up-to-date on the budget process thisyear. Please contact me if you have questionsor want to offer your input.

Turzai Honored for Perfect Attendance

Rep. Turzai was honored for having perfect attendance during the 2007-08 Legislative Session. He is pictured with House Republican Leader SamSmith.

At a press conference on Nov. 10, Rep. Mike Turzaiunveiled legislation, House Bill 2080, that would savethe state millions of dollars by signiﬁcantly curtailing the Department of Public Welfare’s (DPW) special allowance program, a program that allows DPW to give out discretionary dollars to welfare recipients. In August 2009, Pennsylvania Auditor General Jack Wagner released a report citing the potential for fraud in 45 percent of the special allowance casesexamined. The audit found that DPW dispenses morethan $200 million in special allowances per year. Among the problems with the program cited inthe Auditor General’s report are: lax oversight and lack of proper management of the program, lack of accountability for payments, duplicate payments made for the same services, recurring payments that weremade without review and were often paid beyond the point of eligibility or need, and refusal by DPW tocooperate with the audit.Turzai’s legislation would bring greater accountability to the dollars spent on the programby requiring documentation of all payments made,limiting the types of assistance permitted and eliminating duplicative programs.

Before last year’s budget, Rep. Turzai and Rep. Tom Quigley proposed a plan to eliminate 32 programsfrom the Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED), saving taxpayers over $300million. Their proposal eliminated much of the “walking around money” within DCED.By way of example, Rep. Turzai’s bill eliminated the Opportunity Grant Program, which awarded grantsto certain businesses picked by the Governor. A report by the Auditor General highlighted a significant lackof oversight over the Opportunity Grant Program. The Associated Press also reported that 60 percent of the 360 companies that received grants between 2000 and 2003 did not create the jobs they had promised.Rep. Turzai and others believed that tax cuts would have a more beneficial impact than a “corporate welfare”program that had government picking winners and losers.While the Governor originally criticized Rep. Turzai’s proposal, in the end, 20 of those 32 programs wereeliminated from the budget and the funding for 11 other programs was significantly reduced. The eliminationof the 20 programs saved taxpayers $200 million. The reduction in funding for the 11 other programs savedthe taxpayers an additional $30 million, for a total savings of $230 million.

Turzai Fights to Cut Government Spending

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Turzai voted against payraise, never took it

We need real reform in Harrisburg. I have beenout front for needed change. I voted against thepayraise and did not take it. I also helped lead therepeal of the payraise.I support reducing the size of the Legislature.My colleague, Rep. Mike Reese, and I introducedHouse Bill 2332 to reduce the Pennsylvania Houseof Representatives from 203 members to 151. Thisproposal would also require a mandatory 20 percentreduction in staff. I am a co-sponsor of everyproposal to reduce the size of the legislature and willvote in favor of any such measure. Our caucus iseliminating positions through attrition and has frozenstaff salaries.I am introducing a bill to privatize the liquor storesin Pennsylvania, am a cosponsor of a bill to mergethe Turnpike Commission and PennDOT, and supportoverhauling the Pennsylvania Higher EducationAssistance Agency, also known as PHEAA.

Turzai Supports Reducing Size of Legislature, Other Needed Reforms

On Jan. 29, Rep. Mike Turzai visited with Ms. Tracy Devlin and Mr. Matt Murslack’s 8th grade social studies classes in North Allegheny’s Marshall MiddleSchool.

28th District Road Projects

Bridge Projects

•

Grubbs Road Bridge

This project will replace the bridge that carries Grubbs Road over Pine Creekin the Town of McCandless. Trafﬁc will be detoured during the work. This project is scheduled to becompleted by the end of November 2010.•

I-79 Bridges

: This project will repair/replace existing expansion joints, deck, deteriorated concreteand paint on ﬁve bridges between I-279 and Route 19 in Marshall Township. The project will begin thissummer and will be completed in 2012. The bridges include:• I-79 northbound and southbound over Mingo Road (deck replacements).• I-79 northbound and southbound over Warrendale Bayne Road (latex overlays).• Ramp from I-79 northbound to Route 19 at the Cranberry exit (expansion damreplacement).•

Route 910 Bridge Replacement

: This project will replace an existing bridge with new box culverton Route 910 near the intersection of Grubb’s Road in Richland Township. Trafﬁc will be detoured duringthe work. This project is expected to be completed by the end of November 2010.

Roadway Projects

•

Route 19

will be resurfaced from Pine Creek Hill to Wallace Road.•

Salem Hollow Road

will be milled and resurfaced.•

Wexford Bayne Road

will be milled and resurfaced.

Trafﬁc/Safety Projects

•

ITS (Intelligent Transportation System)

message boards will be installed on

I-279

(ParkwayNorth) from Camp Horne Road in Ross Township to

I-79

in Franklin Park Borough. This project isexpected to be completed this fall.•

McKnight Road

trafﬁc signals will be upgraded and coordinated between Pine Creek Road andSiebert Road. This project is expected to be completed this fall.• Upgrades and retiming of trafﬁc signals will take place on

Route 19

. This project is expected to becompleted this fall.• Left turn lanes will be constructed at the intersection of

Route 910

(Wexford Bayne Road) at WexfordRun Road in Marshall Township. The project also includes adjusting trafﬁc signals. This project isexpected to be completed in late summer 2011.•

Warrendale Bayne Road Improvements

: Single lane trafﬁc will be maintained during this projectto widen and improve intersections on Warrendale Bayne Road in Marshall Township. Work is expectedto be ﬁnished in spring 2010.