BUDGET UPDATE: Federal Funds for PA are at Risk - Congressional Support is Needed
BUDGET UPDATE: Federal Funds for PA are at Risk - Congressional Support is Needed
PIE Info: Federal Funds & State budget
June 7, 2010
The following information is from the PA Department of Public Welfare:
BUDGET UPDATE
Federal Funds for PA are at Risk - Congressional Support is Needed
On the Friday before Memorial Day, the U.S. House of Representatives took action on the American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act. The bill was to have been the House vehicle to extend the enhanced federal matching dollars for the Medical Assistance Program.
This legislation is worth $850 million in next year's budget for PA-more than 7% of the DPW general fund budget. The Governor's proposed budget, along with the state budgets of 29 other states, assumed passage of this extension. Forty-seven governors from states across the political spectrum have urged Congress to pass the "FMAP extension."
Layoffs
Without this Act, PA will be forced to implement deep budget cuts and would face potential layoffs of as many as 25,000 state employees.
State, county and municipal jobs as well as jobs at private employers would be impacted, including health care and human service workers, teachers, emergency services personnel, and police. This level of budget cuts and layoffs would have a ripple effect in communities across the commonwealth. PA's economy has just begun to climb out of the recession-PA has added 54,000 new jobs in the last two months-drastic cuts could cripple the state's recovery.
Service Cuts
Cuts would mean reduced services for all Pennsylvanians including closures of state and local parks and libraries, the termination of health care for thousands, elimination of public health services, reductions in school services and the slashing of environmental protection efforts.
If You Want to Help
The House passed the bill on Friday May 28, 2010 without the FMAP extension included.
The Senate is slated to consider the bill next week, the week of June 7. Senate leadership plans to include the FMAP extension in the bill.
Next week Pennsylvanians can let their U.S. Representatives understand the importance of the FMAP extension to PA communities.
For information on how to find and contact your U.S. Representative click here.
To learn about a coalition to working on this critical federal funding click here.
The mission of the Department of Public Welfare (DPW) is to protect and serve Pennsylvania's most vulnerable citizens, to promote, improve and sustain the quality of family life, and to break the cycle of dependency, while managing our resources effectively and promoting respect for employees.
The focus for the DPW FY10-11 Budget is sustainability-preserving services for those who need them quality and results-ensuring services improve the lives of those who receive them, and accountability- ensuring efficient use of tax dollars.
For more information about the DPW budget visit www.dpw.state.pa.us.
Want to support the programs described here as PA enacts its FY10-11 Budget? Visit http://betterchoicesforpa.com to join a coalition of Pennsylvania organizations who care about social services and health care for Pennsylvanian citizens.
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