Pyle, White, Oberlander Praise Passage of Wolf-Proof School Funding, Funding for River Locks
HARRISBURG – Sen. Don White (R-Indiana/Armstrong/Butler/Westmoreland) and Reps. Jeff Pyle (R-Armstrong/Butler/Indiana) and Donna Oberlander (R-Clarion/Armstrong/Forest) today hailed Wednesday’s veto-proof passage of legislation that would implement a new fair funding formula for K-12 schools in Pennsylvania that will result in their school districts getting increased funding without tax hikes. In addition, PLANCON, the state program that underwrites school construction projects, was also funded which will greatly affect the residents of the Freeport and Armstrong school districts that have current building projects.
On March 23, Wolf allowed the 2015-16 budget to become law without his signature, but he vetoed the accompanying Fiscal Code, the legal document that instructs exactly how the budget money is to be distributed. That veto cut an extra $150 million from K-12 schools that the General Assembly has been trying to provide to schools. That veto also killed the new formula for distributing money fairly to schools throughout the state.
Wednesday, White, Pyle and Oberlander voted to pass legislation that would enact a new Fiscal Code and restore the deep K-12 education cuts induced by Gov. Tom Wolf when he vetoed the Fiscal Code on March 23. This legislation would also put into place the new school funding formula recommended last year by the bipartisan Basic Education Funding Commission on which Oberlander served.
This new fiscal code was passed by veto proof majorities: 37-11 in the Senate and 149-45 in the House.
“The General Assembly sent a clear message to the governor that his way of distributing $150 million in new basic education funding in the 2015-16 state budget was not fair to the vast majority of the state’s 500 school districts,” Pyle said. “This week’s bipartisan vote reflected the will of the people in that those 400-plus school districts’ Representatives said ‘NO’.”
White agreed, saying Wolf’s insistence on his way or the highway actually brought legislators together.
“Wolf was acting on behalf of the needs of just a few when he vetoed the Fiscal Code and planned to distribute about half of the new money to three school districts: Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Chester Upland,” White said. “By restoring the governor’s education cuts and granting school construction reimbursements fairly, all school districts in the state will benefit.”
In addition, Pyle said he was able to include $150,000 in new funding for the operation of river locks on Pennsylvania’s rivers, which will greatly benefit the Allegheny River. “I look forward to working with Allegheny River Development Corporation and submitting competitive applications. As last year’s experience with reopening the locks proved – every summer those locks are open are worth an extra half million dollars to Armstrong County and joy to thousands of boaters,” Pyle said.
“We created the Basic Education Funding formula as a way to ensure greater fairness among our schools, and the governor last year praised both our efforts and the new formula. Our schools need every penny they can to pay their bills and ensure the quality of education we expect to see in our classrooms,” Oberlander added. “I am hopeful that the action we took this week will send a clear and resounding message that the governor needs to govern all of Pennsylvania, stop ignoring the rural areas and revert back to the funding formula to which he originally agreed.”
Here is a chart showing the restored funding by the General Assembly of school districts in the 60th Legislative District compared to the cuts Wolf attempted to make:
Representative Jeff Pyle
60th District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
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