Published: September 9, 2009

Here's The Text Of An Ad taken out by the Service Employees International Union that will run in tomorrow's editions of This Very Newspaper.

The union says the advert (which targets state Sen. Pat Browne, R-Lehigh) is part of a concerted effort to ratchet up the public pressure on conservative lawmakers from central and western Pennsylvania who support cuts to the Department of Public Welfare's budget.

Officials hope to peel off support among moderate Republicans such as Browne, as well as Sens. Edwin B. Erickson, R-Chester, and John Rafferty, R-Montgomery, who are also targeted in the print advertisements.

In a brief interview, Browne said the GOP-controlled Senate had not singled out social programs that affect kids, veterans and the disabled for reductions.

"We're trying to accommodate spending priorities within the revenue capacity that we have this year," Browne said. "We're not driven to make cuts. Our priority is to have sustainable programs."

Browne said he's supported early childhood education programs in the past and plans to continue supporting them. But, "if we make bad decisions now, we won't have the resources to pay for any of this."

As a reminder, Gov. Ed vetoed funding for early-childhood, subsidized daycare and Head Start programs last month when he signed an $11 billion "bridge" budget into law. Rendell has said the move was partly intended to force lawmakers to reach a settlement on a completed budget.

Here's the text of the full advertisement: