The Community Action Committee of the Lehigh Valley spoke out against a recent state budget freeze on Tuesday.
View full sizeRoss Marcus, director of Northampton County's Department of Human Services, speaks at a news conference held by a local coalition to stress their objections to Gov. Tom Corbett's budget freeze. To the left of Marcus are Alan Jennings, executive director of the Community Action Committee of the Lehigh Valley, and John Reynolds, chairman of the Lehigh Valley Children's Coalition.On Jan. 4, Corbett's office announced that with state revenues below what's expected for this year, his office has frozen almost $160 million in state spending.
At a news conference on Tuesday in front of the Lehigh County Prison in Allentown, members of the Community Action Committee of the Lehigh Valley objected to the freeze, claiming that slashing state-funded human services will negatively affect residents in the area.
Ross Marcus, director of human services for Northampton County, said that by freezing state funding, Harrisburg is pushing more of the funding burden onto county governments, something he believes is not fair.
Marcus said the freeze affects funding for a number of services including programs dealing with child welfare, home healthcare, and mental health.
"They are cutting out far more than fraud, waste and abuse," Marcus said. "They are cutting out real services to real people."Eric Shirk, a spokesperson for Corbett, said the spending freeze is necessary.
"We didn't take this decision lightly," said Shirk. "Almost every (state) agency was asked to reduce their spending by 3 percent."Shirk said if revenues improve, some or all of the program funding could be restored.
Present at the news conference were officials from the Lehigh Valley Children's Coalition, Northampton Community College and the Crime Victims Council of the Lehigh Valley.
Alan Jennings, executive director of the CACLV, said that with funding for human services already in critical condition, the current freeze could really hurt area residents.
"This is bad for the people in our community," Jennings said. "The system has been decimated over the last several years (and) services are strained to the breaking point."Jennings said he believes a financial commitment needs to be made to the people of the Lehigh Valley.
"If we don't invest in people ... we shouldn't be surprised when those people turn their backs on society," Jennings said.