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Senate Finalizes Budget for
Fiscal Year 2005-06
Senate Republicans Increase
Medicaid, Education, Quality of Life Funding
Even as the Senate
finalized a state budget for Fiscal Year 2005-06 that
mitigated Governor Rendell's proposed cuts in Medicaid
services, Senator Robert J. Thompson, chairman of the Senate
Appropriations Committee, said the Administration and
General Assembly must begin work now to prevent cuts from
recurring next year.
In addition to
restoring nearly $145 million in Medicaid funding, increased
state support for education, agriculture, environmental and
public safety initiatives were also key Senate Republican
priorities that were included in the final version of House
Bill 815, Senator Thompson said.
"This is a
'dodge-the-bullet'
budget. Hopefully it's the first step in a work in progress
that we have to take to really solve the problem of soaring
Medicaid costs and to find a permanent solution," Senator
Thompson said. "It is incumbent upon the Administration and
the General Assembly that we start that process
immediately."
The nearly $24.3
billion budget uses surplus revenues from the FY 2004-05
budget and projected savings to restore funding for medical
assistance services, shore up the financial prospects for
hospitals and medical institutions, continue black fly
eradication programs, provide money to hire more State
Troopers and increase state support for education.
The most
significant change in the final version of HB 815 over
Governor Rendell's original budget proposal is the
restoration of nearly $145 million in state funding for
medical care under the Department of Public Welfare budget.
"We've avoided the
monumental cuts in human services that were proposed by the
Governor. We've restored a good many of them," Senator
Thompson said. "The problem is that we don't know what is
going to happen during this current fiscal year for the
budget we just passed."
Senator Thompson
said the Commonwealth must closely monitor the fiscal impact
of the FY 2005-06 budget on health care providers and the
people who use those services.
"We have to be
extremely sure that we haven't just shifted the costs from
the Commonwealth to our health care providers and our
hospitals," Senator Thompson said. "We have to be sure that
the changes that were made result in costs savings, but
don't adversely affect those who are getting the services.
At the same time, we want to be sure that the changes do not
shift those costs over to agencies with the result that they
can't provide those services."
While restoration
of funding for Medicaid was a key priority, Senate
Republicans also pressured for additional funding for
education, public safety, environmental protection and other
important quality-of-life programs.
"This year,
education spending is reaching unprecedented levels,"
Senator Thompson said. "We increased basic education
subsidies well over the Governor's request. We increased
funding for head start and for our community colleges. With
this budget, we are helping children prepare for school,
helping schools improve and helping young people move on to
college and beyond."
The budget
allocates an additional $131.7 million (3 percent) over last
year for basic education for a total of $4.49 billion. While
guaranteeing a 2 percent minimum in basic education
subsidies, the budget provides additional money for growth
districts and small districts.
An additional $21.1
million (2.5 percent) over last year is allocated for
special education for a total of $875.6 million. Community
college funding is increased by $21 million (9.1 percent) to
a total of more than $252 million for FY 2005-06. Head Start
funding will double in FY 2005-06, with an increase of $15
million for a total of $30 million for the program.
A $5 million line
is also included this year to support concurrent enrollment
programs, an effort promoted by Senate Majority Leader David
J. Brightbill. By including the funding in the budget,
school districts and vo-tech schools will receive state
money for concurrent enrollment programs that allow high
school students to earn secondary and post-secondary credit
by taking college-level courses.
HB 815 also
provides $14.8 million in money from the General Fund and
Motor License Fund to provide for an increase in complement
of 180 State Troopers and necessary vehicles to improve
public safety and homeland security efforts in the
Commonwealth.
The budget also
includes $4.4 million for black fly eradication efforts, a
program the Governor cut from his proposed 2005-06 budget.
Funding was also restored for a number of other key areas
including: crop insurance and plum pox eradication under the
Department of Agriculture; the New Choices/New Options
program; the Access to Jobs program and transportation
programs for veterans and the disabled; and, the Civil Air
Patrol and several community development/job creation
programs.
Even though the FY
2005-06 budget package is in place, Senator Thompson again
cautioned against complacency in preparations for next
year's budget.
"We're really at
the starting point of a long-term process," Senator Thompson
said. "We have a budget, but we have some big challenges
going forward that we have to face before we have an even
worse problem a year from now."
  Thompson
Gordner
Wonderling
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