Issue Position: Responsible Budgeting

Issue Position

As we saw with the recent 10-month budget impasse in Harrisburg, our state legislator has forgotten how to work together to get the job done. As a school board member, Joe understands the importance of passing an on-time and balanced budget every year, and he has worked with his fellow board members, both Democrats and Republicans, to get this basic function of government accomplished. This is why they came together to elect him President of the Spring-Ford School Board when he was the only Democrat serving on it, and just last year they unanimously elected him Vice President. Together with his fellow board members, Joe reduced debt in the school district by $125 million and moved the school district into the top 2% in the state.

Only three states have lower credit ratings than Pennsylvania does now, and credit agencies are threatening further downgrades as Pennsylvania continues to fail the basic task of budgeting, as well as addressing structural deficits. Standard & Poor's specifically cited the "lack of political will" to make budgeting decisions in its March 2016 warning to the state, and lower credit ratings mean higher interest rates and higher interest payments for Pennsylvania taxpayers. Joe Ciresi will work to restore common sense budgeting to Harrisburg, work with members of both parties to reduce government inefficiency and waste, and find reasonable new sources of revenue through passing a natural gas severance tax and closing corporate tax loopholes.

Source