Fiscal Responsibility in PA

The Pennsylvania State Constitution requires the state to pass a budget by the end of each Fiscal Year.  The Pennsylvania State Fiscal Year runs from July 1st through June 31st.  For the last seven straight years the State Legislators and Governor have NOT been able to agree and pass a budget on time.  Each year comes along with political pain; including he said/she said, furloughs, layoffs and more recently withholding of paychecks.  Enough is Enough!

The state of Pennsylvania for the 2009-2010 fiscal year increased spending, relying on savings (rainy day fund) and federal money to make up the difference.  The majority of federal money came from the highly debated stimulus fund which shrinks in 2010-2011 and shrinks even more each year after.  It is time to stop relying on Big Government to fund our expenses.

The vast majority of us in Pennsylvania live on some sort of a budget, if it’s the "spend until its gone" method budget or a more traditional method.  The bottom line is we have to budget our lives to be able to pay for necessities, wants and taxation.  If we don't pay it we risk foreclosure, no electric or water, no new car or even bankruptcy.  Only one person is ultimately responsible for your spending habits - YOU!

Many of us agree we should assist and help those less fortunate than ourselves, there are many organizations out there that survive by helping those people with donations from all of us.  The Red Cross and The United Way are just two of the hundreds that work to keep less fortunate safe, warm and fed.  As an American you have the right to choose to donate to these organizations or not too.

In Pennsylvania we are unique in many ways.  The idea and concept of Liberty was built in Pennsylvania and over the years we have lost the definition of what Liberty truly is.

What can we do in Pennsylvania?  First, we must elect new people into all levels of government.  People who understand their lifestyle with pinching penny’s and trying to improve their life.  Secondly, we must tell the Federal Government no more money, we must become self-sufficient on our goods and services in the state to survive. Commonly the Federal Government will follow the Constitution, leaving certain issues, such as the legal drinking age and speed limits, in control of the states(as per the 10th amendment). Then the Federal Government, by refusing to send the states highway funds, effectively coerces the states into passing certain laws.

The third step is to stabilize government spending in the State.  It’s an easy concept but with ghost workers, and years left on many contracts it is sometimes harder to clean the house then it is to just let it go.  A complete audit of the State Workforce should be completed and then restructured for efficiency and cost savings.

The forth step is to begin reducing taxation for citizens and businesses.  Business taxation as a share of state taxes were 41.5% (Business Share) for Pennsylvania while the National Average was 39.7% {iCOST FY2008 50-State Business Tax Study}.  Reduce business taxation and more jobs will be created, creating more jobs allow more people to earn money and spend money, which equates to less collecting welfare or unemployment and more revenue for the state.  We cannot lower taxes for citizens or businesses until we clean up our current form of spending.

Tell your legislators to spend like they do at home, if you don’t have the money don’t spend it!

~ Written by Scott Davis, founder PARevolution.com