State Rep. Jerry Knowles, R-Schuylkill-Carbon, can’t figure out why the Pennsylvania Senate and his Democratic House of Representatives colleagues don’t understand his version of the obvious.

To counteract what he branded as “fake news” and “special interest propaganda,” the Tamaqua legislator said he wanted to set the record straight by “providing facts and an accurate lay of the state budget land.”

In case you haven’t been following what the warring factions in Harrisburg have been up to for the past 3½ months, they succeeded in passing a $32 billion spending plan by the June 30 deadline, but they have been at odds ever since over how to get the money to pay for it.

First the Senate, with the blessing of Gov. Tom Wolf, approved a plan which the House leadership refused to put up for a vote because it contained some unsavory new tax increases.

Next the House passed a spending plan that relied heavily on tapping into surpluses in some departmental accounts, but no new taxes or tax increases. Despite Knowles’ assessment that this was a no-brainer, the measure was torpedoed in the Senate by an overwhelming 43-7 vote. Only a bloc of fiscally conservative Republicans that included probable gubernatorial candidate Scott Wagner of York County supported the House plan.

As if to offer a conciliatory olive branch along with its rejection, Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman, R-Centre, and other members of the upper house leadership team said that they are open to considering some of the House’s suggested departmental transfers from what Knowles called “slush funds,” just not the full $630 million proposed by the House.

Knowles is beside himself as to why everyone does not appreciate the beauty of the Republican House proposal. “It’s become crystal clear that facts don’t matter to some people,” Knowles said.

In his attempt to “set the record straight,” Knowles said the GOP plan called for zero tax increases and would not borrow one single dollar. He pointed out how rank-and-file legislators, the House Appropriations Committee and the House Republican leadership team put their heads together over a six-week period to develop the plan to cover a $1.5 billion deficit from 2016-17 and cover the expected $600 million in revenues from one-time sources for the 2017-18 budget

Knowles contends that there are 218 funds with $12.1 billion just sitting there in the custody of State Treasurer Joe Torsella, a Democrat. “We voted to tap into 38 of the slush fund accounts,” Knowles said.

He raised the possibility that the governor might want to dole out these funds to score political points. Wolf is a candidate for a second four-year term in 2018. A Wolf representative called such speculation “laughable.”

The House plan requested that just a small part of the total dollars in these funds — 19.2 percent — be used for the budget.

Knowles used this illustration to drive home his point: “If a family has a savings account with $5,000, which has never dipped below $4,000, and their washing machine needs to be replaced, would they be better off buying a new one on a credit card, and paying interest, or taking the money from their solid savings?”

Knowles said that the financially responsible answer would be to dip into savings for that one-time cost, because, he said, that’s what savings are for. “That is exactly what we are doing here with this revenue plan,” he explained.

He accused the Democrats, none of whom voted for the GOP-sponsored plan, of wanting to “increase taxes, any tax.” House Minority Leader Frank Dermody, D-Pittsburgh, attacked the plan as “a big fib.” He said it is ludicrous to suggest that the budget can be balanced with nonrecurring revenue and one-time fixes.

Knowles portrayed himself as a “simple guy whose dad drove a bread truck for 30 years and who grew up in a big family in half-a-double home in the coal regions.” As such, he said, “I understand, appreciate and respect every taxpayer dollar that is collected. That is why I find it absolutely nonsensical to ask for more tax money or borrowing to fund this budget when we have found surplus funds from within that will not cost one job or affect any program or service.”

By Bruce Frassinelli | tneditor@tnonline.com