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Special Report: 2020-21 Budget Hearings
The Senate Appropriations Committee held its third week of public hearings on Governor Wolf’s proposed state budget for the 2020-21 Fiscal Year. The Appropriations Committee heard detailed reports from several cabinet secretaries and other officials over the three-day period of March 2-4. More information on the budget, as well as photos, audio and video from the hearings, is available at: www.pasenategop.com/state-budget/
Monday, March 2, 2020
Department of Agriculture
During the budget hearing with the Department of Agriculture, I raised concerns about the USDA’s Farm Service Agency and the proposed transfers from the Race Horse Development Fund. Other members of the Appropriations Committee discussed several topics of interest to Pennsylvania’s farmers during the budget hearing with Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding. The topics included:
- The Beginning Farmer Tax Credit program.
- Efforts to support dairy farms.
- Amusement ride inspections.
- Farm land preservation.
- Dog licensing.
- Agri-tourism.
- The PA Preferred program.
- The impact of prevailing wage requirements.
- Addressing food insecurity.
- Efforts to meet the EPA’s Chesapeake Bay watershed requirements.
- The impact of MS4 on farmers.
- Funding to address the Spotted Lanternfly and Chronic Wasting Disease.
- USDA’s Farm Service Agency.
- State grants to promote agriculture.
- Biosecurity initiatives.
- Industrial hemp.
- Organic farming.
Video from the hearing
University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine
Senate Appropriations Committee members discussed a number of issues during the budget hearing on the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, including:
- Benefits from the state’s investment in the school.
- The percentage of graduates who stay in Pennsylvania and the student loan debt they incur.
- Abuse of opiates provided by veterinarians.
- Avian Influenza.
- The shortage of veterinarians in certain fields.
- Chronic Wasting Disease in deer.
- Dual enrollment programs in health care and social services.
- Consolidation of facilities at the school.
- Drug testing of race horses.
- African Swine Fever.
Video from the hearing.
Agricultural Research/Agricultural Extension
During the hearing on Agricultural Research and Agricultural Extension, I stressed the need to encourage participation in the census. Other topics discussed during the hearing included:
- Mental health services in farming communities.
- Reducing sediment and nitrogen runoffs.
- Surveying farmers on pollution control.
- Lyme disease.
- The Spotted Lanternfly infestation.
- The impact of insecticides on honey bees.
Video from the hearing.
Tuesday, March 3, 2020
State-Related Universities
During the budget hearing, I raised concern about the competition between state system and state-related universities and asked whether satellite colleges should be realigned to reduce costs. Other members of the Appropriations Committee discussed many challenge facing institutions of higher learning including:
- Faculty costs and how they compare to other institutions.
- Student loan debt and increased tuition.
- How the universities are coping with flat funding while also keeping tuition costs down.
- Efforts to retain in-state students.
- Declining enrollment.
- Recruiting out-of-state students.
- Efforts to help students graduate in four years.
Video from the hearing.
Department of Conservation & Natural Resources
At the Senate Appropriations Committee budget hearing with the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, I asked Secretary Cindy Dunn for a justification of the state moratorium on oil and gas leases on state park land, especially given the drop in Oil and Gas Lease Fund revenue. Other members of the Committee discussed the following topics:
- State Park and Forest rangers and the scope of their authority.
- DCNR involvement in Chesapeake Bay cleanup efforts.
- Personnel and operating costs.
- Cell and radio towers on DCNR land.
- Agri-tourism.
- Timber sales.
- Pennsylvania Heritage Trails.
- The deployment of the P25 State Radio System.
- Hazardous low-wall dams.
- Water levels at Presque Isle State Park and alternative breakwater strategies.
- Acid mine drainage.
- Recreational ATVs.
- State Park attendance.
- The Spotted Lanternfly infestation.
- General Fund support of DCNR operations.
Video of the hearing.
Penn College of Technology, Thaddeus Steven College, Community Colleges
I discussed the value of articulation agreements during the budget hearing with representatives of the Pennsylvania College of Technology, Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology, and Pennsylvania’s community colleges. Other Appropriations Committee members discussed topics including:
- Tuition and fee increases.
- Changes in enrollment.
- Dual enrollment programs.
- Tuition for out-of-state students.
- Diversity.
- Financial literacy programs.
- Eliminated programs.
- Recruitment efforts.
- Efforts to meet the demands of today’s workplace.
Video from the hearing.
Wednesday, March 4, 2020
At the Senate budget hearing with the Department of Environmental Protection, I questioned Secretary Patrick McDonnell about the Governor’s proposed Transportation Climate Initiative and the increase in gas prices it’s likely to cause, and the local impact of the administration’s plan to impose a carbon tax.
Later in the hearing, I asked Secretary McDonnell about the Administration’s plans to help workers displaced by the Governor’s proposed carbon tax. Other members of the Appropriations Committee questioned Secretary McDonnell about several topics including:
- Chesapeake Bay Agricultural Source Abatement staffing.
- Stream and river buffer projects to reduce sediment.
- Pennsylvania’s performance in Chesapeake Bay restoration efforts versus Maryland’s and Virginia’s.
- The Hazardous Site Cleanup Fund and the Administration’s proposed $1 per ton increase to the tipping fee on municipal waste landfill deposits to support it.
- Fees on entities considered public water suppliers.
- Scrap tire and waste coal piles.
- Presque Isle State Park.
- Efforts by farmers to help clean up the Chesapeake Bay.
- Stormwater management fees.
Video of the hearing.
Pennsylvania Professional Liability Joint Underwriting Association
I asked about the amount of surplus money the Pennsylvania Professional Liability Joint Underwriting Association (JUA) has in reserves that could safely be appropriated to other causes. Other members of the Appropriations Committee questioned JUA President Susan Sersha about factors affecting the medical liability insurance market. Some of the topics of discussion included:
- Staffing, operations and the number of policyholders covered.
- Legal changes that have affected JUA.
- The current market for medical liability insurance.
- Expanding access to health care to underserved areas.
- Investments, reserve funds and competitiveness of rates.
Video of the hearing.
Budget Secretary/Governor’s Executive Office
Members of the Senate Appropriations Committee closed out three weeks of budget hearings with a session with Budget Secretary Jen Swails. Topics discussed included:
- Transfers from the Race Horse Development Fund.
- Higher education.
- Prevailing wage.
- The proposed fee for State Police Service.
- Reduced funding for school safety.
- Changes to the state’s contract for the expansion of internet service.
- Solvency of the hazardous site cleanup fund.
- Supplemental appropriations.
- The year-end revenue estimate for FY 2019-20.
- Projections for the Lottery Fund.
Video of the hearing.
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