John Baer: In Pa. budget race, another year of faltering before finish line
A BAD PUN: Gov. Ed tries to push Pennsylvania forward, but he just can't budge it. See, it's June 30, the end of the state fiscal year, another budget deadline, and guess what?
A BAD PUN: Gov. Ed tries to push Pennsylvania forward, but he just can't
budge it
.
See, it's June 30, the end of the state fiscal year, another budget deadline, and guess what?
Yep. No budget.
For the sixth season in a row, your Guv and your Legislature failed to meet the only deadline they have.
Gets old, huh?
Oh, they're still working to get 'er done and maybe not shut down state parks or PennDOT license photo shops or lay off workers like last year.
An achievement, eh?
Lawmakers even slaved over the weekend and into last night, allowing them to collect per diems of $141 a day in addition to their salary - kinda like giving themselves a little economic stimulus.
(Speaking of stimulus: I like a plan of Harrisburg's Rep. Ron Marsico and Sen. Jeff Piccola to dock the pay of all lawmakers every day a budget's late, but what are the chances of passing that?)
And all this extra work in a crisis atmosphere to avert layoffs and personal turmoil for up to 25,000 state workers is due to fights over tax hikes or bold new programs to change the world as we know it?
Not exactly.
At issue (as always) is Rendell wanting to spend and borrow a lot more than Republicans want to spend or borrow and they'll eventually agree to spend and borrow a little more than they do now, which could have (and should have) been done back in April or May.
And Big Ed's big ideas?
Health insurance for 767,000 uninsured adults, most of whom work (which he actually proposed a year and a half ago) is not happening.
One-time $400 rebates to 475,000 lower-income working families to help with gas and groceries (forgot about that, eh?) was abandoned months ago.
Leasing the turnpike or tolling I-80 to pump half a billion dollars a year into road and bridge repair and $400 million a year into public transit, including SEPTA, is on hold.
And reforming redistricting, investing in biomedical research or saving $100 million a year by buying drugs in bulk for medical-assistance recipients all look deader than june bugs in a beetle trap.
Shaking your head?
On the other hand, there are no new taxes, and we seem (from an accounting perspective) better off than a lot of other states.
New York, Maryland, Minnesota, Illinois and Maine, for example, are raising taxes.
New York tacked $1.25 more on each pack of cigarettes, upping the tax to $2.75 per pack, the nation's highest (cigs in NYC are now about $8).
Minnesota lawmakers overrode a gubernatorial veto to hike the gas tax 8.5 cents a gallon over the next five years (after that bridge thing last August, they take infrastructure seriously up in the North Star State).
New Jersey is cutting 2,100 state jobs and canceling $254 million in property-tax rebates for half a million homeowners.
So, comparatively, things could be worse.
But there's not a lot to fight over, and three good reasons to settle.
First, His Edness hosts a National Governors Association (he's vice chairman) meeting in Philly starting July 11. He doesn't want peers buzzing about a budget crisis; could limit buzz about VP or cabinet.
Second, it's an election year for all House members and half the Senate; the least attention they draw to themselves, the better for them.
Third, indictments are expected soon in a reportedly broadening investigation of current and former legislative leaders handing out taxpayer-funded bonuses to staffers doing political work. Best to be out of town before that story breaks.
So don't be surprised if you soon hear blather about an agreement on a tough budget in a tough year without raising taxes or cutting vital services and what a good thing it is.
Just understand: In Pennsylvania, progress is slow because . . . well, it's tough to budge it.
Send e-mail to baerj@phillynews.com.
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