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Happy birthday to Treyvon Erick Garrity!

Letter to the Editor: Recreation grants in Luzerne County clouded by perceived conflict of interest

As I watched Gov. Tom Wolf&#8217;s budget address, I felt his frustration. After so many months of trying to reach a compromise and pass a responsible budget, Gov. Wolf must finally believe he must call out the Republicans in language all Pennsylvanians can understand. The Republican majority is unhappy that the governor was so brutally honest, but often the truth hurts!For the last four years of my tenure in the Legislature, and this past year as well, each budget passed by the Republican majority was built on a house of cards. Each one relied on every sort of accounting gimmick, one-time patches and wildly optimistic revenue assumptions. We knew that we were creating a structural deficit that would only get worse over time. But to be honest with Pennsylvania citizens and taxpayers takes political courage. It takes looking past the next election. It requires telling Pennsylvanians that the services you want and need must be cut to the bone or eliminated, or we must find additional revenue to fund them. You can&#8217;t continue to proclaim that you are supportive of these services and then refuse to pay for them!Democrats tried to raise additional revenue through closing the Delaware Loophole, through taxing Marcellus Shale drilling and other means that seem acceptable to the majority of Pennsylvanians. But we were the minority party. We could have our say, but the Republican House and Senate majorities and Gov. Tom Corbett would have their way.Well, those chickens have come home to roost.Don&#8217;t take my word for it, or Gov. Wolf&#8217;s. Listen to what Standard &amp; Poor&#8217;s and the other rating agencies say about Pennsylvania&#8217;s fiscal stability. They have downgraded our credit rating five times in recent years, costing Pennsylvania taxpayers additional millions in interest.Going forward there are really only two choices. Either we can invest in education, eliminate the deficit and put Pennsylvania back on track, or we can continue with more of the same fiscal shenanigans with dire consequences. The nonpartisan Independent Fiscal Office says the budget deficit will increase to more than $2.6 billion in just three years if we stay on this irresponsible path.This path will lead us into a dismal future of shuttered schools, skyrocketing property taxes and lower bond ratings that lead to higher borrowing costs for state and local governments.Meanwhile, even as Pennsylvanians pay more they will get less from their state government. Far less. If the General Assembly does not work with the governor to approve a responsible solution to this budget crisis, every Pennsylvanian will suffer the consequences. Those consequences will be real. They will be immediate. They will be severe!Gov. Wolf has proposed an honest and responsible budget. It proposes that the state take its rightful share of the responsibility for funding our schools; it proposes that this investment include a reasonable share for early childhood education and higher education; and it proposes that we actually fund these investments with real sources of revenue.I urge the Republican majority to get back to work to pass a responsible and balanced budget!Phyllis MundyRetired state representativeKingston

Letter to the Editor: State Republican lawmakers putting Pennsylvania on path to ‘dismal future’