On Thursday, the House Appropriations Committee concluded three weeks of budget hearings by hearing testimony from the governor’s Budget secretary. Appropriations Chairman Stan Saylor said those hearings have exposed the fact that Governor Tom Wolf’s budget proposal does nothing to prioritize vaccine distribution or get Pennsylvanians back to work, which would help grow the state’s economy and revenues. Saylor said instead, the governor’s budget continues his legacy of unmitigated overspending and seeks to inflict a punishing 46% tax increase on middle class families and small businesses. Rep. Doyle Heffley expressed his disappointment with the lack of attention to vaccine distribution or supporting the unemployment compensation system… saying the governor’s budget address did not even mention vaccines once. Rep. John Lawrence also commented… saying that it is shocking the governor did not find it necessary to talk about the No. 1 issue on everyone’s mind during his largest speech of the year.
