John Baer: Pa. employees burn up the Rendell request line

HE SHOWED UP well-tanned and then got tattooed.

Of the 16 calls that Gov. Ed took during a 60-minute live call-in show on the Pennsylvania Cable Network last evening, 14 were openly hostile.

He was vilified by Vivian, from Clearfield: "Why can't you pass the budget? Why do you want every dollar that taxpayers have? We don't all live in Philadelphia! We don't live like you do!"

He was mauled by Mark, from Philly: "I've heard you talk about world-class government. Well, that's what you've given us.

You've given us Third World-class government."

And he was manhandled by Michelle, from Johnstown: "You've made it an embarrassment to admit to people I'm a state employee."

It wasn't pretty and couldn't have been fun. But the Guv stuck to his guns, defended his views and, despite taking punches, never went down.

It was a telethon of venting, mostly by state employees who face payless paydays in the absence of a budget, which is now more than one week late with no signs of resolution in sight.

Several state workers called to tell Rendell that despite his efforts to arrange lines of credit and no-interest loans, many aren't qualifying for financial help, and fear months without income.

Heather, from Gilbertsville, in Montgomery County said that she lives paycheck to paycheck working for the state, that one of her two children needs $100 a month in medication and she can't qualify for assistance.

The Guv said that he was told by the Pennsylvania State Employees Credit Union that 32,000 state workers signed up for lines of credit ("unfortunately, they don't seem to be calling in," he said) and that Citizens Bank is offering no-interest loans up to $15,000.

But caller after caller said that he or she has bad or borderline credit and few options.

"I'm going to get forced to be evicted from where I live," said Joe, a state worker from Bucks County. "I'll be on the streets."

Rendell several times told such callers that he's working on "a program" to help those without good credit to get loans, and he encouraged callers to get in touch with his office.

He was asked why prison inmates continue to be paid for working while prison guards are not. He said that inmate pay does not come from the state's General Fund budget.

He was asked if he is being paid. He is not. Neither are lawmakers. He and they get paid retroactively once a budget is in place.

And he was asked how many government officials cut their budgets or their pay. He said that he and 10,000 non-union state workers didn't get annual cost-of-living raises the last two years.

"Essentially, a 6 percent pay cut," he said.

Actually, a cut would be less pay. What he didn't get was a raise.

Without that raise, his salary is $170,150.

There was little of his the-sky-is-falling routine that's become part of his opposition to program cuts proposed by Senate Republicans.

There was lots of defense of his plan to raise the personal-income tax (PIT) for the second time in his tenure, from 3.07 percent to 3.57 percent, to raise $1.5 billion.

He suggested (more than once) how smart he is and said, "If I could have designed a way out without raising the PIT, I would have done it."

Oh, and the only two calls not openly hostile came near the end of the hour-long bashing and included (from John, in Snyder County), "I'm disappointed in you, I gotta be honest"; and (from Ray, in Montgomery County) "how long" will it take to resolve the budget impasse?

"I wish I had an answer for you," answered Rendell.

It looked to me like he wished that the hour was over. *

Send e-mail to baerj@phillynews.com.

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