HARRISBURG,  February 7, 2011 –   State Sen. Christine M. Tartaglione today released the following statement regarding the governor’s budget address:

“The budget outlined by the governor today is the result of his long-held and unsupportable distrust of struggling families and an equally inexplicable and unsustainable trust of large corporations.

This shortsighted plan, and many other actions during the first year of this administration, put the blame for economic stagnation on low and middle income workers and give them a disproportionate share of the burden of fixing it.

While Pennsylvania families are being scrutinized for their on-line purchases, their savings and their desire to find work, corporations are being blindly trusted about their income taxes, their commitment to job creation and their concern about the environment.

It’s unlikely that the budget proposed will be the budget passed.  But starting the conversation with dramatic cuts to education as Pennsylvania school districts face insolvency and the cost of college rises above the grasp of middle-income families, means that the administration has lost faith in the next generation.

As we go forward, I urge the governor to understand that he represents all of the people in Pennsylvania, from the neighborhoods of North Philadelphia to the rural hilltops dotted with gas wells.  The people from my district will have plenty to say about this budget.  I urge the administration to listen.

Over the next few months, the families raising that generation will have to prove that they deserve our confidence and our investment in their children and in their communities.  This administration does not trust them.

Today’s high school students will have to prove that they deserve the same support for higher education that their elder siblings and their parents received.  This administration does not trust them.

School districts will have to prove that early childhood education is a better investment than prisons.

If the governor has his way, Pennsylvania small businesses will continue to bear the burden of high corporate income taxes and will continue in their struggle to compete with big box retailers who enjoy the benefits of one of the world’s most notorious tax loopholes.

It is this fundamental mixture trust and distrust, expressed first by candidate Corbett  18 months ago when he said the unemployed “would rather just sit there” than work, that marks this administration’s vision of Pennsylvania.

Those of us with a different vision will have to prove ourselves.  We will show the governor that we will not just sit there. We are ready to work.”

###