HARRISBURG - As hundreds rallied against spending cuts for mental disabilities, Gov. Tom Corbett voiced caution Wednesday about using the state's improving revenue picture as a green light to restore funding in the final state budget.
Addressing the areas of human services and education, Corbett said he wants to hear those seeking to block proposed cuts suggest where state spending should be cut elsewhere. He warned of overseas developments that could bring a sudden turnaround to a fragile economy and depress state tax revenues again.
"I am open to discussion, but I am concerned if something was to happen in Europe ... or if something would happen in the Mideast, we could see a change in the economy very rapidly," Corbett said.
The governor met with legislative leaders earlier this week to discuss budget issues as the official state tax revenue collections for April ran $100 million above estimate, thus reducing a revenue shortfall for the current fiscal year to $288 million, according to the House Democratic Appropriations Committee.
A coalition of disability groups called for stopping a proposed $168 million cut for county-run human services programs and providing more state money to reduce a waiting list of more than 15,000 individuals waiting for support services and help some 700 upcoming high school graduates with a mental disability make transitions.
The governor's proposed budget calls for combining seven human services programs in a single block grant. These programs include community mental health and mental disability services which are in the coalition's sights and the human services development fund, drug and alcohol outpatient treatment, homeless assistance, child welfare special grants and drug and alcohol abuse programs.
Counties would get more leeway to manage the programs without state mandates, but the proposal calls for a 20 percent - $168 million overall - cut in state aid.
Corbett said the block grant approach allows counties to implement savings in one area and shift funding as they see necessary. But the coalition said the mental health and mental disability programs get the most state aid and have the most to lose if the proposal is adopted.
"We are going to fight for the restoration of these cuts," Sen. John Blake, D-22, Archbald, told the Capitol rally.
Blake said afterwards that the block grant poses problems because it pits service providers against each other and pushes tough decisions down to the local level.
"The question is how much flexibility will the administration have," he added.
Rep. Gene DiGirolamo, R-18, Bensalem, said a bipartisan group of lawmakers is committed to restoring the cuts.
