Gov. Wolf's big ideas: Lost in space?

GOV. WOLF'S plans for Pennsylvania are a little like plans for a one-way trip to Mars.

Not everybody's ready to sign up.

Bold? Sure. Forward-looking? You bet.

But like that Mars-or-bust business, pretty expensive, extremely ambitious and unlikely to fly.

This is not to say Democrat Wolf's big ideas are bad: Cut the wage tax, cut property taxes, raise the minimum wage, cut business taxes and freeze tuition at state universities.

And surely these plans meet Democrat Wolf's favorite self-describing adjective: "different."

In fact, they represent a U-turn, a 180, a full reversal of where the state's been for years.

"We have a $2.3 billion deficit, an education crisis and a sluggish economy," Wolf said during his budget address to a joint session of the Legislature yesterday.

"Our credit rating has been downgraded five times in a row, making us one of the least creditworthy states in the nation.

"And since the beginning of 2011, Pennsylvania has been near the bottom in the country in job creation. That's clearly not acceptable. . . . Ideas that may have worked in the past simply aren't working anymore."

So Wolf says tax the natural-gas industry more, raise the personal income tax from 3.07 percent to 3.7 percent, raise the sales tax (except in Philly where it's already 8 percent) from 6 percent to 6.6 percent and expand it to cover more products and services, but not food, clothing or prescription drugs.

He'd up the cigarette tax $1 per pack (replacing Philly's $2-per- pack tax) and for the first time tax all tobacco products and e-cigs.

Then he'd cut property taxes by an average of more than 50 percent (about $1,000 per year), cut the corporate net income tax from 9.99 percent to 5.99 percent and phase out the capital stock and franchise tax.

With new revenue from natural-gas extraction, he'd pump $1 billion more into schools, most in basic education, to extend the state's share of school costs to 50 percent for the first time in more than 40 years.

This mix of hikes and cuts, Wolf says, would make for a more progressive state, fairer to all and headed "back on track."

When I ask Mayor Nutter for his tabloid reaction, he says: "Great budget. Bold vision for Pennsylvania."

Ah, but Pennsylvania is home to the status quo, a place where change is more often seen in return trays of vending machines than in broad state policies.

Then there's the other party.

Republicans who run the Legislature and have fiscal approaches grounded in austerity and no new taxes are, shall we say, a tad reluctant to join Wolf's rocket ride to renewal.

GOP Senate President Joe Scarnati calls it "a very bad plan."

GOP Senate Leader Jake Corman says it is the largest tax-and-spend plan in state history. He says it is "not based in reality" and "makes Ed Rendell look like a conservative."

Corman adds, "We don't have any votes for that."

Truth is it's an opening bid, the start of a process certain to include trade-offs.

Republicans are firm in their position that no new revenue gets considered in the absence of changes to public pensions.

State ligquor-store reform beyond Wolf's proposed "modernization" also is in the mix.

Overall budget numbers are daunting: $33.7 billion in spending, a 16 percent jump counting all proposed changes; $4 billion in new taxes; $3.8 billion in property-tax cuts; borrowing $3 billion to refinance pension debt.

Wolf, no question, is going big. Maybe he's shooting for the stars in hopes of getting to the moon. But Mars, my friends, is out of the question.

And the coming fight for a final budget? Think of the 1951 sci-fi classic, "When Worlds Collide."