"Tight Times, Tough Choices"
May 1, 2009
It's budget season for the Commonwealth, too, and to help people better understand the tough choices the Governor and the Legislature face, the Penn Project for Civic Engagement, WHYY, and the Economy League held a televised town hall meeting on April 30. In February, Governor Rendell announced that future revenues are predicted to be down significantly, and in his budget he proposed cutbacks throughout state government.
Following a briefing on the ins and outs of the Pennsylvania budget by Economy League executive director Steve Wray, 120 citizen participants broke into groups to discuss their concerns and draft questions for a diverse panel of state policymakers: US Senator Robert Casey, Jr, State Senator Jake Corman, State Representative Dwight Evans, and State Secretary of Policy and Planning Donna Cooper.
"Tight Times, Tough Choices" first aired on WHYY 12 on Sunday, May 3. David Haas, the Philadelphia Foundation, and the Lenfest Foundation sponsored the event.
Additional resources about the Pennsylvania state budget:
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FY09‐10 Overview: http://www.hacd.net/budget/200910/overview.htm
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FY09‐10 Budget in Brief, Governor's Executive Budget, and more documents: http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/current_and_proposed_commonwealth_budgets/4566