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Pennsylvania needs out-of-box thinking

As state representative of the people of the 81st Legislative District and someone who is opposed to seeking tax increases to solve budget problems before every other avenue has been exhausted, I was pleased to hear the leadership team of the House Republican Caucus last week publicly express its desire to restructure state government — and not increase taxes. Pennsylvania has been struggling for the past few years with balancing a growing budget with limited, and largely stagnant, funding resources. Earlier this week, the Wolf administration announced the state is facing a budget shortfall of $600 million. Overcoming this type of hurdle will take innovative, out-of-the-box thinking. However, taking a fresh approach and re-examining state government to look at new cost-saving measures are exactly what our leadership team in the House is poised to do. The time has come for real change in how we manage taxpayer dollars in state government, whether that means combining some departments, eliminating redundancies or working more strategically with nonprofits to deliver certain services. These are ideas I have been advocating for since I was first elected to office. Families and businesses expect more from us, and we need to deliver. I look forward to what is sure to be challenging budget process this year.

Rich Irvin

Pennsylvania House of Representatives

81st Legislative District

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