Milne Voices Outrage at Political Stunt that Eliminates Higher Education Funding in the Budget
Rep. Duane D. Milne, Ph.D. (R-Chester), a professor at West Chester University, today expressed his outrage at the political stunt being used by House Democratic leadership that holds Pennsylvania students and their families hostage in the state’s budget stalemate.
The latest budget plan being proposed by House Democratic leadership cuts $1.2 billion for higher education in the state, thus completely eliminating funding for all state universities and community colleges as well as the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA), which is the main source of student loans in the state.
“As an educator, I am outraged that the higher education community, students and their families are being used as pawns in the debate over how to balance the state budget,” Milne decried. “From the very beginning of the budget process, the budget plan for higher education was one area in which there was a strong sense of bipartisan consensus about what level of funding was reasonable and appropriate. This new and outrageous plan put forth by the Democratic leaders in the House completely shatters that consensus and it does nothing to resolve the budget dilemma our state does face,” he continued.
“This political stunt is bad public policy and only exacerbates the corrosive cynicism that too many young people feel toward government. With the start of semester just weeks away, students and their families are now being held hostage by this poorly conceived effort. It is irresponsible. Period,” Milne declared.
Milne also opined that this plan might, in part, be part of a back-door effort to force expanded gambling in the state, something which he has opposed all along.
“In earlier education funding plans, legalization of so-called video poker gambling, and now trying to approve table gaming in the state, has been put forth as an alleged ‘solution’ to funding higher education. I have been, and continue to be, strongly opposed to expanding gambling in our Commonwealth, especially in an effort to make education funding dependent upon it. It is the wrong approach to education policy and a bad example for our kids. I will continue to fight against this policy effort, and work toward a logical solution for education funding, and for an overall state budget that takes care of the needs of our Commonwealth and respects our hard-working taxpayers.”
The House Republican Policy Committee will hold a public hearing on the elimination of higher education from the overall budget proposal at 9:30 a.m. Thursday, July 16 in Hearing Room 1 of the North Office Building at the state Capitol in Harrisburg.
Rep. Duane Milne
167th District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
(717) 787-8579
Contact: Raymond Smith
(717) 705-1834