The state House Appropriations chairman says he cannot support Gov. Tom Corbett’s proposed $27.3 billion general fund budget proposal because of the cuts in education funding.
“I could not support it as it stands now, with the education cuts,” state Rep. William Adolph, R-Delaware, said Tuesday during a break between a series of day-long committee hearings on departmental budgets.
Adolph wasn’t the only committee member apparently having second thoughts about the Republican governor’s budget that is $700 million less than the current one, and which trims $600 million from education funding.
Much of the angst was triggered by State Treasurer Rob McCord’s presentation indicating that should the proposed higher education cuts remain in place, tuition will rise to the point that many parents will not have enough money for their child’s tuition.
Penn State President Graham Spanier, following Corbett’s budget address, said the $180 million cut in his school’s funding could cause increased tuition, layoffs and the closing of regional campuses. The proposed cut in state funding is about a 4 percent cut in Penn State’s overall operating budget.
Cutting more than half a billion from state education and universities certainly makes Corbett look like an uncaring bastard, and that's because he is one. I can understand making some small cuts to some programs at universities or raising tuition, but slicing up the budget to force the university system to take drastic measures is just silly. And once again, note that tax increases are simply off the table, every dollar of the budget shortfall has to come from cuts, in this case a near 50% cut in state university funding.
You have to wonder why the GOP hate education and teachers so much.
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