Kinkead issues statement on passage of 2021-22 state budget

HARRISBURG, June 25 – State Rep. Emily Kinkead, D-Allegheny, has issued the following statement regarding the 2021-22 state budget:

“It’s clear we have very serious problems in our state to solve. People are struggling and suffering, and they don’t need to be because we have $10 billion dollars we could have spent to help them get back on their feet and recover from the pandemic.

“Instead of putting together a moral and compassionate budget that spends the lion’s share of these funds to help the people of Pennsylvania, the Republicans have done nothing but put together a callous budget with peanuts to help our struggling constituents.

“Instead of making a $10 billion investment in our communities to make real, generational change in this commonwealth, the Republicans are pretending that we are poor and must save for a “rainy day” despite the fact it has been downpouring for more than a year. They want to use these funds for their own pet projects without the transparency and oversight provided through the formal budget process, instead of investing in our small businesses, our infrastructure, our workers -- instead of investing in the people of Pennsylvania.

“This heartless budget is full of missed opportunities -- 10 billion of them. Simply, it’s repugnant that we had an unprecedented opportunity to help our residents in need and, instead, this budget has left them out in the cold again.”