State Representative David H. Zimmerman | Pennsylvania 99th Legislative District
State Representative David H. Zimmerman | Pennsylvania 99th Legislative District
Gov. Josh Shapiro presented his proposed budget for the fiscal year 2023-24, totaling $45.8 billion, to a joint session of the General Assembly. This proposal represents a 6% increase over the previous budget. Rep. Dave Zimmerman from Lancaster expressed his thoughts on the governor's focus on agriculture.
Zimmerman stated, "I was encouraged that he mentioned agriculture as one of his focus points, having sat through all eight-years of former Gov. Tom Wolf’s budget addresses with the word ‘agriculture’ not being mentioned a single time."
He highlighted Lancaster County's significance in Pennsylvania's agricultural landscape: "The importance of Lancaster County to our nation’s food supply is critical. Of the 500,000 cows in Pennsylvania, roughly 100,000 of them are in Lancaster County, and two-thirds of Pennsylvania’s poultry are located here."
Zimmerman also acknowledged Shapiro's plan to increase funding for combating diseases affecting food supplies. He noted recent challenges faced by poultry farms due to Avian Flu: "If you are wondering how eggs got so expensive, a recent bout of Avian Flu resulted in well over 100,000 chickens being destroyed for consumer protection – a devastating economic event for our poultry farms."
However, Zimmerman raised concerns about the financial feasibility of Shapiro's proposals: "What concerns me about Shapiro’s budget proposal is it spends more than our treasury has available." He emphasized that while he supports many agricultural initiatives outlined by Shapiro, they should not come at the expense of depleting reserves or relying on uncertain revenue sources like recreational marijuana legalization.
Zimmerman further commented on potential areas for fiscal improvement: “While he was Pennsylvania’s attorney general, Shapiro said he had found $3 billion in Medicaid fraud. With the power he now has as governor, I would like to see the fraud and waste rooted out before choosing to spend our emergency reserves or raising taxes on hard-working Pennsylvanians.”
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