HARRISBURG – State Reps. Matt Gabler (R-Clearfield/Elk) and Tommy Sankey (R-Clearfield/Cambria) joined a majority of their colleagues Tuesday in voting to fund essential statewide services in the wake of Gov. Tom Wolf’s unprecedented comprehensive budget veto on June 30.
In a series of party-line votes, House Democrats declined to provide the necessary two-thirds majority necessary to override the governor’s veto and provide immediate funding for a range of human service and education-related programs, including rape crisis centers, domestic violence services, PHEAA college student grants and public school transportation.
Gabler and Sankey issued the following statement following the votes:
“We were proud to vote once again to provide immediate funding for these crucial state services. These items contained in House Bill 1192, which we passed in June, matched or exceeded Gov. Tom Wolf’s budget request. These items include funding for rape crisis centers, state grants for college students, cancer screening, domestic violence programs and public school transportation.
“The governor was wrong to indiscriminately veto these noncontroversial line items in the budget through a complete budget veto. While every Republican state House member voted to support immediate funding for these service providers, every Democrat voted against the attempt, directly resulting in a failure to achieve the necessary two-thirds majority needed to pass.
“History shows on June 1, every state House member on both sides of the aisle voted in opposition to Wolf’s proposed tax increases. The unanimous vote that day proves this is not a partisan issue. The governor has created this impasse by continuing to demand a budget that legislators in his own party cannot support.
“On June 30, the state Legislature’s balanced, no-tax-increase budget bill was brought forth as a real, workable solution providing historic increases in education funding based on real revenues. Wolf’s choice to veto this bill was a historic and devastating decision for Pennsylvania.
“Nearly 60 days into this impasse, rape crisis centers, domestic violence centers and many other critical services are in desperate need of immediate funding. We are committed to continuing to work every day to bring real solutions forward to benefit our Commonwealth.
“We continue to call on the governor to come to the table willing to agree to realistic and workable solutions that will enable Pennsylvania to move forward in a way that benefits everyone, especially our most vulnerable constituents who were dealt another devastating blow today by our colleagues who refused to vote to fund these essential human service programs.”
