DN Editorial: Big spender

GOV. Corbett's budget for next year, introduced last week, had something unusual: more new spending than he's ever offered. There's spending for veterans, for job training, the elderly and $400 million for education.

Can you say "election year"?

Just a few months ago, the Corbett administration was talking about the state ending this year with a deficit of several hundred million dollars - mainly because of lagging collections of taxes on businesses, sales and personal income. While the state is on the road to economic recovery, it seems stuck in a 25 mph speed zone.

So how will Corbett cover the bills? Here are five ways he'll be finding the money:

First: Put on rose-colored glasses to peer into the future. State tax revenue this year will go up a modest 2 percent. The governor's people estimate that the rate will double to 4 percent growth. Experts at the Independent Fiscal Office doubt that tax collections can rise so much so quickly, and say that 3 percent is more realistic. By upping that estimate by 1 percentage point, Corbett magically makes an extra $300 million appear.

Second: Raid the cookie jar. Each year, the state gets payments from tobacco companies as part of a settlement of a suit brought against their sales and marketing practices. The money is supposed to go to anti-smoking and other health-related projects. This year, the governor is taking out $225 million to use for favored projects.

Third: Drill, baby, drill. In 2010, the state put a moratorium on leasing state-owned land for gas drilling. Corbett plans to resume leasing on state game and forest lands to raise $75 million from gas companies.

Fourth: Spend money you don't yet have. In the past, the governor has proposed reforms in the state's pension systems to eliminate growing deficits, saying that the reforms would allow the state to lower its payments to the funds. This year, he is lowering state payments by $170 million in anticipation of the reforms. If the Legislature doesn't pass the reforms, it looks as if the state still plans to take the "savings."

Fifth: Back to the cookie jar. The state has an escrow fund created for unclaimed assets held by banks, insurance companies, etc. This year, Corbett wants to lower the time the state holds the unclaimed money from five years to three years. The switch will yield $150 million for the state.

None of these are new tricks. They range from standard budget tricks and somewhat reckless optimism to downright questionable decisions, like the expansion of drilling without imposing more fees or taxes on drillers, and once again postponing the true reckoning of the pension crisis.

Corbett is by no means the first governor to raid the tobacco settlement money. Gov. Ed Rendell did it not only to cover a deficit but to fund Medicaid. Corbett, meanwhile, has rejected millions of federal dollars to expand the state's Medicaid program.

That a fiscal conservative like Corbett is using these tricks is ironic; so, too, is the fact that while he's proposing this spending to move out of political trouble, some of these tactics may get him into even bigger trouble.