(Harrisburg, PA) – Following the House of Representatives’ passage of House Bill 1416, SEIU Healthcare President, Neal Bisno, released the following statement.  SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania represents over 20,000 health care employees across Pennsylvania, including Registered Nurses, Pharmacists, Doctors, Health Educators, and other health care professionals who work for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

“Thank you to the House Democrats and Republican Representatives Dennis O’Brien, Nick Micozzie, and Bob Godshall for voting to take a big step forward in solving the state budget impasse. It’s critical that the Pennsylvania Senate follows their lead and passes a state budget immediately that adequately funds public services and ensures dedicated state employees are paid fully for the work they perform every day on behalf of all Pennsylvanians.

“We’re encouraged to see that the House of Representatives and the Governor recognize the critical need to fund public services that families depend on – particularly in these hard economic times.

“House Bill 1416 isn’t perfect in our assessment, but it’s a huge improvement over the draconian cuts proposed by the Senate Republicans – cuts that would have slashed services for veterans, public health educators that we rely on to protect us from dangers like the Swine Flu, and stripped every single health care professional position out of our Department of Corrections.

“We hope that the Senate Leadership will now step up to the plate and pass a budget that maintains the vital public services that our communities depend on. To do so will require some creative thinking to be sure, and new sources of revenue.

“As health care professionals across this state who work in the private and public sector, we’re calling on our State Senate Leadership to step up to the plate in a real way, look out for the families and communities in Pennsylvania, and pass a budget quickly that funds public services.”