Here’s How to Pay Last Year’s Bills without Tax Hikes

On Tuesday, House Republicans will unveil their plan to balance the budget without hiking taxes on families and job creators and without costly borrowing. How will they do it? Transferring surpluses from certain shadow budget funds is sure to be a key component.

The infographic below illustrates just how much money is available in these funds' accounts—$9.5 billion as of today. Just 16 percent of these massive fund balances would cover last year's budget deficit.

This is money taxpayers have already paid. It makes perfect sense to use it to pay off the state's bills from last year and avoid borrowing (which would cost the state billions in debt payments and legal fees) and tax hikes that would hit nearly every Pennsylvania family.