Ringside: Corbett's chainsaw budget cutting is irresponsible

As a candidate, Tom Corbett promised to cut spending and not raise taxes. The majority of voters liked the sound of that, so they elected him governor.

Four months later, Gov. Corbett unveiled a state budget that, just as he promised, cut spending big time and didn't raise taxes.

Now, many are howling.

Are voters schizophrenic or do they not know what they want? It's a mixed bag. Some want it both ways - no new taxes and no cuts. Dream on. Others would prefer tax increases over cuts. Move to Philly.

Still others just want to cut, baby, cut. But as Corbett's budget shows, that's not realistic.

No doubt - given Pennsylvania's $4 billion deficit - Corbett needs to make some tough cuts. But his chainsaw-massacre approach is irresponsible. Especially since Corbett's business cronies are getting a free pass.

Corbett's budget proposes to slash $550 million in funding for public schools and an additional $650 million for higher education.

He cut state funding for Temple and other state-supported universities as much as 50 percent. At the same time, Corbett increased funding to build prisons.

To quote erudite tennis star John McEnroe: "You can't be serious?"

Corbett's budget cuts would be a lot easier to swallow if they were offset by some fair tax measures. Sure, he promised not to raise taxes, but voters are used to candidates saying one thing and doing another. (See President Obama and Guantanamo.)

If anything, most average voters want to see commonsense solutions over ideology. They understand the state's fiscal problems. But they want to see any pain spread evenly - not just aimed at the rich, or the poor, or the forgotten middle class.

This is where I think Corbett and his fellow Republican governors in Wisconsin and New Jersey are overplaying their hands.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker got the public-sector unions to agree to painful but necessary wage and benefit concessions. But then he had to go and put a stick in the unions' eye by taking away most of their collective bargaining rights.

Gov. Christie has done the same thing by beating up the teachers union but giving millionaires a tax break.

Corbett's style differs from Christie's bombast. He's more of a quiet cutter.

But in many ways, Corbett's budget is harsher than Christie's. That's partly because Corbett is so blatantly playing favorites when there are reasonable tax measures available that wouldn't hurt most residents.

For starters, there is no good reason for the state not to tax natural gas drillers who have struck gold in Pennsylvania. Until that happens, it is hard for Corbett to sell his budgets cuts with a straight face.

A bill introduced in the House last month estimated a gas tax could generate $245 million in fiscal 2011-12, and nearly $570 million by 2015.

The state would have collected about $130 million if the severance tax had been enacted in October 2009, when it was first introduced.

Even some of Corbett's fellow Republican lawmakers support a gas tax. Amazingly, the legislature agreed last year to pass a gas tax as part of the budget deal with then-Gov. Ed Rendell. But the deal was never made final.

Pennsylvania is the only major natural-gas-producing state in the country without a severance tax or fee. Even Texas has one.

Why should out-of-state gas companies avoid paying a severance tax while many residents will likely see their local property taxes increase as a result of Corbett's education cuts?

Pennsylvania should at least get something in return for all the dirty water getting pumped into the ground by the gas drillers.

Corbett could also push to close the so-called "Delaware loophole," which allows corporations with headquarters elsewhere to avoid paying taxes here. He should hold off for now on any thoughts of phasing out the capital stock and franchise tax. Those two ideas combined could provide hundreds of millions of dollars to state coffers.

Pennsylvania could also join the rest of the country by taxing smokeless tobacco. Even big-tobacco states tax chewing tobacco. It could bring in $40 million a year or more.

That may not seem like a lot, given the $4 billion deficit, but it could offset some of the looming tuition increases for colleges and universities. It could also prompt some people to cut back on the use of cancer-causing tobacco - an added health-policy benefit that could help reduce the state's Medicaid costs.

By just calling for deep cuts, Corbett and the other Republican governors are showing that these budget fights are not just about the money.

Chat live with Paul Davies at 1 p.m. Monday at www.philly.com

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