House GOP Launches PennSAVE

Member Group : News Releases

Representative Stephen Bloom
199th District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Abbey Haslam
717.260.6222
[email protected]
RepBloom.com / Facebook.com/RepBloom / Twitter.com/RepBloom

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 23, 2016

Bloom Appointed to PennSAVE
Initiative launched to uncover savings in government

HARRISBURG — The House Majority Policy Committee Monday launched PennSAVE, a Republican-led initiative to find ways to save taxpayer dollars by cutting government waste and inefficiencies. Rep. Stephen Bloom (R-Cumberland) was among the lawmakers appointed to spearhead the effort.

"One of my primary missions as a lawmaker has been to cut the size and scope of government, so I’m honored to be appointed to this task force," Bloom said. "We have a $30.3 billion budget in this Commonwealth, and yet we continue to hear voices saying we have to raise taxes and increase spending. There are so many areas within government where we can cut costs, so we don’t ever have to go back to the hard-working taxpayers and ask for more money."

The initiative will be run by a special taskforce of the House Majority Policy Committee, under the direction of Chairman Kerry Benninghoff (R-Centre/Mifflin). The group will be researching several potential cost-saving measures across state government including possible state agency and program consolidation; unaddressed audit findings; government procurement policies and "corporate welfare;" as well as overall waste, fraud and system abuse.

"Before taxpayers are asked to take a pay cut in order to send more money to Harrisburg, state government first needs to be accountable to taxpayers by ensuring it has explored every practical option for reducing costs," Benninghoff said.

Bloom is encouraging residents of the 199th Legislative District to participate in the initiative by submitting ideas and strategies for how to make government more efficient. They can do so by visiting RepBloom.com and clicking on the "PennSAVE" banner.

The initiative will also include coordination with other state House and Senate committees, as well as the governor’s office and its executive agencies, in order to solicit suggestions.

"Residents of the 199th District know there are plenty of cost-savings to be found. I hope they will join in our cause by submitting some of their own ideas," Bloom said.