Mr.
Masch to Harrisburg:
Secretary of Budget
Michael
J. Masch, vice president
for Budget and Management
Analysis, was nominated
last Friday by Governor-elect
Edward G. Rendell to
serve as Secretary
of the Budget in the
Rendell Administration.
Mr. Masch will take
a leave of absence
from Penn to serve
the Commonwealth.
This
is the
second
time
Mr.
Masch
has
been
recruited
by Mr.
Rendell,
C '65,
H '00.
Before
coming
to Penn
in 1996,
Mr.
Masch
served
then
Mayor
Ed Rendell
as the
City
of Philadelphia's
Budget
Director
from
1992
to 1996.
When
the
Rendell
Administration
took
office,
the
City
was
on the
brink
of bankruptcy
following
ten
years
of persistent
deficits.
Mr.
Masch
and
the
Rendell
economic
team
succeeded
in balancing
the
budget
in their
first
year,
and
then
went
on to
successfully
implement
a ground-breaking
program
of annual
tax
cuts
and
budget
surpluses.
President
Judith
Rodin
said, "During
his
six
years
at Penn,
Mike
has
played
a major
role
in enhancing
our
University's
financial
structure,
one
of the
key
goals
of our Agenda
for
Excellence strategic
plan.
Under
Mike's
watch
we have
developed
comprehensive
long-term
planning
processes
that
integrate
policies
and
budgets
for
both
academic
and
administrative
units.
We have
also
instituted
new
procedures
for
financial
review
and
approval
of capital
projects.
In short,
Mike
has
set
in motion
a program
of fiscal
management
and
governance
that
positions
us well
for
the
future."
President
Rodin
added, "We
are
fortunate
that
we have
on board
Bonnie
Gibson,
who
will
assume
the
role
of Acting
Executive
Director
of Budget
and
Management
Analysis,
in addition
to her
continuing
responsibilities
as Executive
Director
of Administrative
Affairs
for
the
Office
of the
Provost.
Bonnie
has
been
at Penn
since
1987,
serving
in a
variety
of increasingly
responsible
roles
and
is well
positioned
to continue
our
successful
fiscal
management
programs.
We greatly
appreciate
her
willingness
to take
on these
additional
responsibilities."
Governor-elect
Rendell
is optimistic
that
by working
creatively
in a
bipartisan
manner
with
legislative
leaders,
the
state
can
come
to grips
with
its
looming
fiscal
crisis,
and
achieve
similar
success
in the
area
of economic
growth
and
job
creation
that
Michael
Masch
helped
to usher
in Philadelphia
during
the
1990s.
Governor-elect
Rendell
noted, "There
is no
one
better
than
Mike
in working
with
departments
to control
spending,
and
finding
innovative
ways
to cut
waste
while
increasing
production."
"I
selected
Mike
for
this
critical
post
not
only
because
he is
one
of the
best
at what
he does
in America,
but
because
we've
succeed
together
in the
past
and
he shares
my vision
for
balancing
budgets
while
improving
services," Governor-elect
Rendell
added. "Together
with
legislative
leaders
on both
sides
of the
aisle,
we will
give
the
people
of Pennsylvania
property
tax
relief,
more
equitable
funding
for
our
schools,
and
economic
growth
for
towns
and
cities
across
our
great
state."
Given
the
magnitude
of the
fiscal
crisis,
Governor-elect
Rendell
called
on his
new
Budget
Secretary-Designee
to Chair
a bipartisan
Budget
Crisis
Task
Force
aimed
not
only
at defining
the
full
scope
of the
problem,
but
to provide
recommendations
and
guidance
that
will
potentially
lead
to solutions
and
solvency.
"So
much
of what
ails
Pennsylvania
can
and
will
be solved
as revenues
free-up
through
economic
growth.
But
even
as I
work
with
the
legislature
to stimulate
such
growth,
the
fiscal
deficit
we are
inheriting
will
require
honest,
imaginative
leadership
from
all
the
parties
involved.
This
is why
I am
appointing
a group
of experts
to this
Task
Force*
to examine
all
the
weapons
at our
disposal
to fight
and
beat
this
projected
deficit
that
may
well
reach
two
billion
dollars," said
Governor-elect
Rendell.
*(Ed.
Note: see Honors & Other
Things for
other
Penn
people
appointed
by
the
Governor-elect
to
this
Task
Force
and
his
Transition
Teams.) |