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Last week, the state House moved a General Fund budget bill (H.B. 1485) from the Appropriations Committee, signaling that negotiations on the 2011-12 state budget are officially underway.

Originally introduced as the budget proposal Gov. Tom Corbett unveiled in March, the legislation was amended in committee to restore some program cuts, while maintaining the $27.3 billion spend level sought by the governor.

House Bill 1485 now contains an additional $243 million for education, including basic education funding, accountability block grants and social security payments. It also would restore 10 percent of the governor’s suggested funding reductions for state-owned and state-related colleges and universities.

The House’s budget plan would restore money to education by redistributing funds from the governor’s proposed appropriation to the Department of Public Welfare. House leaders have committed to finding waste, fraud and abuse within DPW and defunding programs for which fraud/abuse has been identified.

PA Chamber members support the continued call for fiscal restraint in the new state budget, believing that, while budget cuts will require tough choices, the best way to help job creators, and working families and individuals, in the long-run is to hold the line on spending and taxes, and require the Commonwealth to live within its means.

 “It is important throughout the budget negotiation process to refrain from levying more taxes on businesses and individuals who have been taxed to the limit to support government spending that has grown at double the rate of inflation and beyond taxpayers’ ability to pay,” PA Chamber Vice President Gene Barr said.

House Bill 1485 is scheduled for House floor debate the week of May 23, when lawmakers return to session after breaking for the primary election.

While discussions will be ongoing about how best to achieve the spending reductions sought by the administration, PA Chamber members urge lawmakers to give priority to a budget that holds the line on spending and taxes.

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The Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry is the state’s largest broad-based business association, with thousands of statewide members representing businesses of all sizes and all industry sectors. The PA Chamber is The Statewide Voice of Business™. More information is available on the Chamber’s website at www.pachamber.org.