PENNSYLVANIA BUDGET

REALITIES
October 5, 2015

2014-15 BUDGET
{ Dollar Amounts In Millions }

Total Revenues
Total Expenditures
Ending Balance

October 5, 2015

$29,427
($29,153)
$274

One-time items well in

excess of $2 billion will be
required to prop up a budget
of $29 billion without a tax
increase for the 2014-15
fiscal year that begins
Tuesday. AP 6/28/14

However, the 2014-15 budget relied

on over $2 billion in one-time and
unsustainable sources

THESE FUNDS DO NOT RECUR IN

2015-16
October 5, 2015

SMOKE AND MIRRORS BUDGETING

{ Dollar Amounts In Millions }

One-time Revenues

$899

Raiding Special Funds

$648

One-time Cost Shifts

$484

Total One-time/Unsustainable Sources in 2014-15

"S&P cited the budget's
reliance
on
pension
payment reductions and
other one-time revenue
streams some of which
may not come to fruition
to bump up spending...."
Morning Call 4/29/14

October 5, 2015

Call it the big gimmick.

The one-time items
derided
by
critics
as
gimmicks include raiding
off-budget
programs,
postponing bills and cleaning
out reserves.
Associated Press, 6/28/14

$2,031

To cover its extra spending,

his budget relies on several
one-time revenue sources,
plus others that require the
federal government or state
Legislature's approval.Was
it risky? I suppose, said Sen.
Jake Corman, Morning Call
2/4/14

COST DRIVERS FOR 2015-16

{ Dollar Amounts In Millions }

Total Spending for 2014-15

Mandated Spending Increases for 2015-16
Human Services
Pensions
Debt Service
Corrections
Other
Total
Total Mandated Spending for 2015-16

October 5, 2015

$29,153
$886
$715
$53
$203
$23
$1,880
$31,033

2015-16 REPUBLICAN BUDGET

IFO Revenue Estimate*

Total Mandated Expenditures
Structural Deficit

$29,755
($31,033)
($1,278)

*net of refunds

To balance their budget, Republicans again relied on

$1.5 billion in one-time and unsustainable sources in
2015-16.
One-time Revenues

{ Dollar Amounts In Millions }

$520

Thebudget theRepublicans are

catapulting through the Capitol is
going to miss the mark. The plan
dusts off one-shot gimmicks and a
pledge of allegiance to gas drillers
while offering no relief to property
tax payers and ignoring the state's
schoolchildren.
Philadelphia Inquirer, 7/1/15

One-time Cost Shifts

$564

Questionable Savings

$424

Total

October 5, 2015

$1,508

COST DRIVERS FOR 2016-17

{ Dollar Amounts In Millions }

Total Mandated Spending for 2015-16

Mandated Spending Increases for 2016-17
Human Services
Pensions
Debt Service
Corrections
Other
Total
Total Mandated Spending for 2016-17

October 5, 2015

$31,033
$654
$458
$78
$166
$147
$1,503
$32,536

2016-17 BUDGET
Total Revenues
Total Mandated Expenditures
Structural Deficit

$30,247
($32,536)
($2,289)
{ Dollar Amounts In Millions }

Assuming the budget for 201516 was balanced, the structural

deficit for 2016-17 would still
reach nearly $2.3 billion before
any increases outside mandated
expenditures.

October 5, 2015

We just have to figure out a

way to move forward. But the
principle we are standing on is
we cannot just worry about
next year and how to balance
the budget with short-term
decisions. We need to make
long-term decisions as well
[Corman Floor Speech,
07/01/09]

PENSIONS: A CLOSER LOOK

SERS
Current Law

2015-16

2016-17

$632

$769

SB 1 Revised

$632

$754

Cost (Savings)

($15)

Current Law

$1,740

$2,061

SB 1 Revised

$1,740

$2,032

Cost (Savings)

($29)

Only 2%
of the deficit would be
accounted for by the
Republican pension
reform proposal

PSERS

{ Dollar Amounts In Millions }

SERS General Fund portion
PSERS State share only

October 5, 2015

Trim pension costs in the

near- and long-term, and
the money for schools
and other programs will
materialize,
[Corman]
argues,
not
unconvincingly.
- Patriot-News, 3/27/15

($44)
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THE REALITY OF NO NEW REVENUE

Further damaging cuts to basic and higher
education
Continued underfunding of human service
needs, expanding waiting lists for services
Increased property taxes
Additional credit downgrades leading to
higher borrowing costs

October 5, 2015

10

Doing nothing will result in

another $1 billion cut to education
Weve reached our
maximum threshold
for pain.
Charles Zogby,
3/7/13

October 5, 2015

That would result in

the LOWEST
funding level since
the 2005-2006
budget

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