142 nd Legislative District

State Representative
District Offices:
370 East Maple Avenue, Suite 102
Langhorne, PA 19047

Frank A.
(215) 752-6750
Lower Southampton Township Complex
1500 Desire Avenue

Farry
Feasterville, PA 19053
Phone: (215) 942-4067
Capitol Office:
52B East Wing
P.O. Box 202142
Harrisburg, PA 17120-2142
Phone: (717) 260-6140

R e p F a r r y. c o m

BUDGET REPORT
2009-10
2010-11
State Budget Impasse
Rendell Budget
Highlights Need for Reform
Raises Taxes,
For the seventh year in a row, Pennsylvania began the new fiscal year
without a state budget in place. The 2009-10 budget was not approved Spends Too Much
until early October, more than four months after the legally mandated
deadline. In February, Gov. Ed Rendell delivered
The budget plan offered by the governor and House Democrats would his annual budget address to the Legisla-
have imposed over $9.7 million in additional taxes on you, the residents of ture.
the Neshaminy School District, but school funding would have increased Despite revenues falling $3.25 billion
by only $650,000. I fought hard against this tax increase and against short of predictions last year and state reve-
proposed cuts to important services such as libraries, child care, and nues already $374 million below predictions
higher education. for this year, the governor has proposed
State spending has increased from $21 billion to $28 billion over the a budget that increases spending and he
last seven years. I firmly believe that state government must live within wants to raise taxes to pay for it.
its means and that we cannot continue to raise taxes on Pennsylvanians. I am particularly concerned about the
I understand the need to pass a budget so state government can continue governor’s plan to expand the state sales
to function, but I could not, in the interest of our taxpayers, support this tax to a variety of items which had previ-
budget. ously been exempt. We cannot continue
Throughout the 2009-10 budget negotiations, I heard from many people to increase spending year after year and
who were frustrated that the process was taking so long. Many of the calls expect Pennsylvania families and senior
and e-mails I received were from residents who rely on services funded by citizens to pick up the tab.
the state budget including state colleges and universities, public schools, To balance his spending plan, the gover-
and county social services. I share their frustration and I strongly believe nor is also counting on $800 million in federal
something must be done to ensure that an impasse like the one we saw stimulus funds. It is irresponsible to rely on
last year never happens again. one-time revenue sources like the stimulus
I have co-sponsored a number of legislative proposals to reform our funds to cover recurring spending. Those
budget process. Among them: funds will disappear in 2011-12 and we will
• House Bill 2101 states that if there is a budget impasse beyond July 31, be left with a large budget hole and no way
the previous year’s general appropriations act shall become law at a 20 to pay for it. It is a better plan to redirect this
percent reduction until supplemented by a new budget. funding toward the looming pension crisis.
• House Bill 1915 would establish the Emergency State Employee Salary If we are going to avoid huge tax increas-
Fund to ensure that state employees will continue to be paid in the event of a es, we must control our spending now and
budget impasse. plan for the future. Families across Penn-
I am very interested in your thoughts on how we can improve the budget sylvania have to make these kind of difficult
making process. Please feel free to contact one of my district offices or choices every day. They should expect the
visit my Web site at RepFarry.com. same from their elected representatives.

2010 House Calendars Not Printed

Due to Budget Concerns
As state revenues continued to come in below predicted levels, it was more important than ever for state govern-
ment to make every effort to get the most value from the funds available. As a result, the decision was made not to
print the publicly distributed 2010 House of Representatives commemorative calendars.
 Action Required to Ensure Children Are Not
Held Hostage to Budget Negotiations
In September, upon learning that Pennsylvania Educa-
tion Secretary Gerald Zahorchak was refusing to process
text book orders for non-public school children, including
those in Catholic schools until a state budget was passed,
I joined my Republican House and Senate colleagues from
Bucks County to urge the secretary to immediately process
the order. About 275,000 non-public school children across
Pennsylvania did not have text books when the school
year began. Many had to wait until November to receive
their books. During that time, I stayed in contact with the
school principals to keep them informed of the status of the
books.
In a letter, Zahorchak claimed the state budget impasse
prevented him from processing the orders. However, I be-
lieve the needs of our children, particularly when it comes
to education, cannot be sacrificed while legislative lead-
ers bicker over the details of a state budget that was long
overdue.
While you hear certain elected officials talk about the
importance of education, this was an example of a few
politicians directly having a negative impact on our children.
Situations such as this are unacceptable and should never
be allowed to happen.
Legislation that would prevent another state budget im-
passe like the one suffered last year has been drafted as
noted in the budget reform article in this budget update.
While this solution is not perfect, it would have prevented
the problem that kept text books out of the hands of 275,000
Pennsylvania school children.

Neshaminy School District

Gets State Funding Increase
While I have some concerns about the levels of spending and taxation in the final 2009-10 budget, I am pleased that
the plan provided every school district in Pennsylvania with an increase in the basic education subsidy. The chart below
details the subsidies and the 13.6 percent increase for Neshaminy School District. Neshaminy received only a 3 percent
increase in 2008-09.

Increase Over Percentage

School Total 2009-10 Increase Over
Funding 2008-09 Basic
District 2008-09 Basic
Education
Funding Education
Funding
Neshaminy $20,606,889 $2,468,728 13.6%

What do you think?

I am very interested in your views on the state budget and what we can do to avoid the kind of impasse we saw last year.
Please feel free to contact me at any of my offices with your ideas.

Office Information
DISTRICT OFFICES: CAPITOL OFFICE:
370 EAST MAPLE AVENUE LOWER SOUTHAMPTON 52B EAST WING
SUITE 102 TOWNSHIP COMPLEX P.O. BOX 202142
LANGHORNE, PA 19047 1500 DESIRE AVENUE HARRISBURG, PA 17120-2142
(215) 752-6750 FEASTERVILLE, PA 19053 PHONE: (717) 260-6140
MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY PHONE: (215) 942-4067 MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY
9 A.M. TO 5 P.M. AND MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY, 9 A.M. TO 4:30 P.M. AND
BY APPOINTMENT NOON TO 4:30 P.M. AND BY APPOINTMENT
BY APPOINTMENT

Visit my Web site RepFarry.com