Radio Smart Talk: CPAs weigh in on PA’s finances

Radio Smart Talk for Tuesday, February 19:

Pennsylvania, like almost every other state in the country, is facing a number of fiscal challenges. Gov. Tom Corbett made that clear two weeks ago when he proposed a $28.4 billion budget for the 2013-14 fiscal year. Corbett’s spending plan does not include new taxes, at least directly, but does rely on selling the state’s liquor stores to generate new revenue for education and ask for more money from oil companies to help fund transportation upgrades.

In the meantime, the Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants’s Fiscal Responsibility Task Force studied and made recommedations on several of the state’s financial issues. Two members of that task force will appear on Tuesday’s Radio Smart Talk to discuss their findings.

The PICPA said they approached Pennsylvania’s finances “as we would a client facing significant financial challenges.”

Among the issues the CPAs looked at were public and school employee pensions, efficiencies and streamling state government, transportation infrastructure, financially distressed cities, and taxes.

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