“At a time when taxpayers across the region and the Commonwealth are battling the impacts of inflation, I could not support the state budget adopted by the House of Representatives this evening.
“This budget increases spending by $2.7 billion over the prior fiscal year and, more importantly, it spends well beyond what we anticipate collecting in revenue over the next 12 months. That means dipping into the state’s reserves to balance the budget, and when the reserves run out, we will all be faced with a tax hike.
“Of course, there are elements of the plan I support, including investments in our critical access hospitals, schools, higher education institutions such as the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford, and more.
“We simply must do more to ensure the Commonwealth is living within its means.”
