Our response to Gov. Wolf’s 2020 Budget Address

WHY HOLD BACK THE PROGRESS OF OUR CHILDREN?

Pennsylvania families need the Governor and the legislature to do much more to meet the needs of children. Governor Wolf’s proposed budget keeps the Commonwealth moving in the right direction, but the Commonwealth must accelerate its pace so that the full potential of children can be realized. Our quality of life, economic potential and the vibrancy of our democracy demand that our legislators build on the Governor’s proposals with greater investments in children and families.

HEALTH CARE

Governor Wolf proposes vital spending increases totaling $66 million for the state’s flagship Children’s Health Insurance Program [CHIP]. In large part, this increase is a must-do because federal funds for this program are scheduled for reduction, shifting more of the cost onto the Commonwealth.

Further, the budget provides for a substantial increase in the Medicaid spending which ensures continued access to health care for single mothers and children. These essential health care services make the lives of children better every day. We fully support the proposed increases and urge lawmakers to pass a final budget that appropriately covers the costs of these critical family health care services.

Every budget is a combination of a policy and a spending proposal. We note that children, innocent of any wrongdoing, are barred from enrolling in either of Pennsylvania’s public health insurance programs because they do not have legal citizenship documents. As this budget moves toward enactment, we urge the Governor and lawmakers to end this egregious oversight that denies these children the basic human right of access to health care and puts the health of every child in the Commonwealth at risk.

We also know that we can dramatically improve the health outcomes of children by deploying evidence-based Home Visiting services to new mothers but the proposed budget offers no new funding. We urge that the final budget include a boost to funding Home Visiting services because current levels reach only five percent of all families who would benefit from these services. The impact of Home Visiting services lasts an entire generation, decreasing social safety net costs for taxpayers in the years ahead.

EARLY CHILDHOOD

The proposed budget includes a $30 million increase proposed for FY 21, Governor Wolf’s sixth annual increase in programs that provide high quality pre-K. Enacting only the Governor’s proposed investment leaves a majority of Pennsylvania’s three and four-year old’s still shut out of the pre-K programs which would prepare them for school success.

Regardless of party affiliation, grandparents and parents across this state demand that more children enter school ready to learn. We call on lawmakers to make a bold move and increase state funding for high quality pre-K beyond the Governor’s proposal.

One glaring omission of this budget is the failure to add even a modicum of relief for families drowning in the costs of child care. That’s the care parents rely on to wrap around pre-K programs or the care they need for their babies or toddlers. Federal funds are accounted for in the proposed budget, but they don’t begin to meet the need. PCCY found that the biggest expense for families after housing is the cost of childcare and it’s putting hard working families earning as much as $75,000 underwater.

Lawmakers need only refer to the transcripts from four Governor’s Command Center hearings chaired by the leadership of the PA Chamber of Business that childcare is a bottom-line issue for business. Employers are very clear that one of the key reasons they face a worker shortage is the paucity of childcare. Worse yet, parents tell PCCY they either can’t accept a job or take a promotion because of the cost of childcare.

Lawmakers can deliver for businesses and working parents by expanding the state’s child care program so that substantially more families can find affordable quality childcare for their children while they are at work. Further, we urge lawmakers to recognize that qualified staff are leaving the early education field, causing high staff vacancy rates in pre-K and child care programs because they can earn more working at Target or Amazon. Only by boosting the rate the state pays these programs can we ensure that our children are better cared for than items on the shelves of retail stores or the parcels delivered to our homes.

For the thousands of parents of young children with developmental delays, the proposed budget includes $13.5 million to expand early intervention services. The lion’s share of these funds will support children in their pre-K years ($11 million). Wisely, the Governor recognized that great progress can be made when children are very young, proposing an increase of $2.5 million in early intervention for babies and toddlers.

EDUCATION

So many lawmakers run for office telling the voters that if elected they will remedy Pennsylvania’s inequitable and inadequate system of funding public schools. Chief among them was Governor Wolf.

Governor Wolf proposes that $1 billion be put on the table to protect our children from toxic hazards in our schools. We applaud the Governor for taking a bold step forward to address a problem that permanently harms and thwarts the life chances of tens of thousands of children in the Commonwealth. But given the devastating scale and scope of the problem, it’s clearly only a first step. Our children are at risk and nothing could be more worthy of the attention of lawmakers or public investment.

This proposed budget also provides the sixth annual increase in funds for education by proposing a set of policy changes to charter and special education spending that would save school districts $280 million. The Governor’s payment reforms, if adopted, would finally align what the state spends on special education and charters to the actual, concrete costs of providing those services and they deserve the support of every lawmaker and concerned taxpayer.

The Governor couples these payment reforms with modest growth in the state’s key line-items that fund instruction, boosting Basic Education Funding by $100 million and Special Education Funding by $25 million.

Yet, adopting the Governor’s reforms and appropriations would mean that school districts across the state, especially those educating the most impoverished students, will still be forced to make cuts or increase property taxes or both. That’s because, in the upcoming school year, before any increases are paid to teachers or more teachers are hired to reduce class sizes, school districts across the state will have to find the funds to meet $455 million in mandated costs — a full $50 million more than the Governor’s entire proposed education package of $405 million.

We share the view with state lawmakers that Pennsylvania’s future is intricately connected to the quality of education we provide for our children. As legislators grapple with other budget challenges that increase state spending for the aged, they must remember it’s our children who must grow up and be prepared to care for us, run our business and chart the path of our nation. Does this budget prepare our children for success? As they discuss ways to meet the enormous infrastructure needs of our roads and bridges, legislators must see that our schools are the infrastructure of our very democracy and the modern economy. For this reason, we urge all lawmakers to commit to adopting a budget that would equitably deliver at least $455 million to our schools.

Donna Cooper, Executive Director
Public Citizens for Children and Youth