Garrity, Grove Advocate for Enhancing Rainy Day Fund, Share Investment Income Success
Harrisburg, PA - Pennsylvania State Treasurer Stacy Garrity and House Republican Appropriations Chairman Seth Grove (R-York) today advocated for bringing the Commonwealth’s Rainy Day Fund up to the national median. Garrity also shared that Treasury’s investment income estimate for the current fiscal year has increased to $437 million.
“Pennsylvania will soon face a fiscal cliff. We owe it to the hardworking taxpayers we serve every day to prepare by making prudent and fiscally responsible decisions – like saving more in our Rainy Day Fund. With leadership from Chairman Grove and others, big deposits were made into the Rainy Day Fund as part of the last two state budgets. Thanks to those wise decisions, which enjoyed strong bipartisan support, we have enough saved to keep the state running for about 42 days. That’s a huge improvement, but we’re still below the national median of 44.5 days. The good news is that we can get there this year.”
Pennsylvania State Treasurer, Stacy Garrity
The governor and House Democrats have proposed a budget which spends down both budgetary reserves and the Rainy Day Fund, draining all savings within five years.
“It is not very often government can say it raised significant revenues without raising taxes, but this is exactly what the Rainy Day Fund and budget reserves have done this year. House Republicans led the charge to make real investments in the Rainy Day Fund, and Treasurer Garrity’s leadership has resulted in a monumental return on investment. We still face a structural deficit, but one that is made significantly less steep because of $437 million in investment income.”
House Republican Appropriations Chairman, Seth Grove (R-York)
Garrity and Grove both believe that saving should be a key element to upcoming budget negotiations. Prior to this fiscal year, Pennsylvania was woefully behind other states in terms of its Rainy Day Fund.
“Treasurer Garrity and I share the goal of moving Pennsylvania from the middle of the pack to being a national leader in saving for an economic downturn. Economic indicators are flashing signs of another recession, we must prepare.”
House Republican Appropriations Chairman, Seth Grove (R-York)
Full press conference available here: https://pacast.com/download?f=app_23141_house_RainyDay.mp4
Media contact:
Samantha Heckel, Press Secretary (Treasury), 717-418-0206 or sheckel@patreasury.gov
Charlie O’Neill, (Rep. Grove), (717) 260-6121 or coneill@pahousegop.com
