At the Wednesday, May 27, County Commissioners’ Meeting, the Commissioners passed a resolution to urge the Pennsylvania General Assembly to adopt a reasonable and “responsible” budget for 2009-2010. As stated in the resolution itself, the Commissioners’ primary concern is the shifting of “costs onto the local level.” In other words, the adoption of an overly stringent State budget would merely “pass the buck” down into local government budgets.
Commissioner Craig Lehman, who once served from 1992 to 2007 as a Budget Analyst at the PA House of Representatives, elaborated on this message being sent to his “former bosses.” He urged State politicians to come out of their “political silos,” putting “rhetoric aside [to] do the right thing.” As Lehman put it, “the wrong thing is boxing yourselves in, not willing to compromise,” instead of coming up with a bi-partisan solution that avoid pushing expenses down to the local level.
Commissioner Scott Martin echoed Lehman’s sentiment, noting that many proposed budget cuts would relate to mandatory public services that, ultimately, will have to be paid for, whether by the State of by the Counties.
A copy of the resolution will be sent to every member of Lancaster’s delegation to the General Assembly, to Governor Rendell, and to the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania. Similar statements are being issued this week by other Boards of Commissioners across the state.
