Republicans have played havoc with state economy

GOV. WOLF was in Philadelphia on Thursday to tout his plan to provide an additional $200 million in subsidies to basic education, plus another $60 million in state money for pre-K for all children - a goal he shares with Mayor Kenney.

Of course, we all know the problem with using these numbers. There is no guarantee the state Legislature will approve any of this new spending. In fact, the odds are against it.

Forget about next year. The Legislature failed to approve the governor's call for an extra $360 million in additional funds for basic education this year. It has also failed to pass a state budget for the current year.

Wolf will be in the odd position next Tuesday of proposing his budget for the new fiscal year that begins July 1, without a budget approved for this year.

It's popular to portray this as squabbling between a liberal governor and an increasingly conservative Republican majority.

But, it's not the same old-same old partisan comedy. Increasingly, it is becoming a tragedy - with local governments and school districts as victims. The state is operating under a stopgap budget that funds government operations for part of the year.

Just like last fall, the money will start to run out in the spring. Just like last fall, school districts and local governments will have to scramble to get money to fund education and social services. The only difference is, the governments and districts have spent whatever reserves they had and have borrowed to the limit. The well is dry.

This is all due to the Republican wrecking crew in control of the Legislature. They have stopped government in its tracks, which is fine with them, as long as there are no new taxes.

It's time for a reality check. Because of the anti-tax policy during the Tom Corbett era, state taxes may have stayed the same, but local taxes rose, as school boards and governments scrambled to fill the holes left by the slashing of state aid. A recent study by the Center on Regional Politics found that the city's contribution to the school district went up nearly 28 percent between 2011 and 2014. It wasn't enough to save the district from slashing its budget.

As Wall Street analysts have pointed out: Pennsylvania is in financial trouble because revenues have not increased at the same pace as expenditures - and those expenditures are driven by mandated increases for such items as Medicaid and paying for the pensions of state and school employees.

Before Wolf was elected, the Republicans papered over the problem by employing a variety of tricks, including raiding special funds. These were all one-time "solutions." That money is gone.

When Wolf arrived, he proposed tax increases to provide new money for public education, but also to cure this chronic imbalance between tax revenue and spending. As a result of the paralysis in Harrisburg, the situation has gotten worse.

Because of inaction on every front, the Independent Fiscal office predicts that the state will end this year with a $318 million deficit and next year with a $1.8 billion deficit.

When those deficits arrive, we wonder what the Republicans will do: pretend the deficit doesn't exist? Pay it off using Monopoly money?

One thing we know they won't do: be responsible and face the facts.