HARRISBURG – State Reps. Matt Gabler (R-Clearfield/Elk) and Tommy Sankey (R-Clearfield/Cambria) today voted in support of legislation that would send Pennsylvania’s human service providers and public schools much-needed emergency state funding through the month of October. House Bill 224 and Senate Bills 1000 and 1001 have been sent to Gov. Tom Wolf’s desk for his signature.
The representatives issued the following statement upon passage of the legislation:
“Today we voted to provide yet another viable solution to Pennsylvania’s budget impasse. By authorizing emergency funding, we are taking responsible action to pay our bills while negotiations on a final budget continue. Our support for this legislation provides funding for the most vulnerable Pennsylvanians who have been used as ‘leverage’ by Gov. Wolf and his allies who until now have insisted on creating a crisis by holding hostages in a cynical attempt to build support for an unnecessary $5 billion tax increase that Pennsylvanians cannot afford.
“We call on the governor to approve this emergency funding legislation, which would immediately enable more than $11 billion that has already been collected from hard-working taxpayers to be sent to providers of essential services. Approval of this legislation would bring peace of mind to college students and their parents who are concerned about buying textbooks and making their fall semester tuition payments. A veto from Gov. Wolf, however, would not only harm those same students, it would also prevent domestic violence and rape crisis centers from keeping their doors open and providing critical services to those who need them most. A veto would also turn out the lights for providers of essential services to children and even cause some schools in our state to needlessly close down, harming the very students our governor claims to support.
“Gov. Wolf has repeatedly said ‘simply saying no is not an option.’ We call on him to live by his own words. With negotiations on a full-year budget scheduled to continue, the governor is the only person standing between taxpayer dollars and the people and providers who need the immediate funding we have once again voted to provide.”