HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) — Hours before Gov. Josh Shapiro’s budget address, in a small corner of the Capitol in front of a very small audience, lawmakers held a yearly event. The Legislative Audit Advisory Commission’s meeting took just 11 minutes. Members voted on an audit report, but took no questions or comments.
“It’s the same evasiveness every year,” said Eric Epstein, from the government watchdog Rock the Capital. “There is absolutely no opportunity for the public to speak. There’s no recommendations from the auditor.”
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Pennsylvania is scraping together money this year as it faces a $4 billion to $5 billion structural deficit, meaning it’s spending more than it’s taking in. At the same time, lawmakers are also sitting on a pile of cash.
The audit released online showed the legislature has $307 million from taxpayers in reserve.
Sen. Chris Gebhard (R-Berks/Lancaster/Lebanon) sits on the commission. The dollars and cents are accounted for, but does it make sense to keep all of it?
“I would say it’s a significant amount of money, and the amount of money that we should have in these accounts should only equal what we need,” Gebhard said. “And that certainly is determined by people that are above my pay grade.”
Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman (R) and others have said for years that reserves should be reduced. But they keep increasing. Last year, it was $299 million.
Pittman called the new number “much higher than it needs to be.”
But what about inflated? The surplus was created to protect the financial independence of the General Assembly should there be a budget fight.
“People need to understand the reason for these accounts no longer exists,” Epstein said. “There used to be a reason. That was if there was a budget stalemate, the legislature didn’t want to be starved out.”
“That’s not the case,” he added. “Everybody got paid. Everybody got paid this year, so the reason for its existence is nonexistent.”
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A structural deficit very much exists, putting every pot of money very much in play.
“I think every penny is being accounted for and scrutinized,” Gebhard said. “And so do I think these numbers will come down? I think they’ll very much be part of that conversation.”
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