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WILKES-BARRE — You know what I want to know?
I want to know how hard our elected state officials are working to get an agreement on the state budget?
That’s what I want to know. And I want to know who to believe.
I want to know if Gov. Tom Wolf’s decision to veto the entire budget offered up by the Republican majorities in the House and Senate was a good idea. Did he have to veto all 401 line items? Or could he have vetoed just those line items that he was opposed to?
Steve Miskin, press secretary for the House Majority Leader, told me that Wolf, a Democrat, and the Republican majorities agreed on 274 of the 401 budget line items. That’s 68 percent of the budget that was agreeable to both sides.
It’s been 50 days since Wolf vetoed the budget and it is getting dangerously close to financial disaster for critical state agencies and school districts that depend on state money to operate.
Miskin told me there were two meetings last week on the budget, calling them the first meetings “of substance” since March.
Another meeting is scheduled for Wednesday between Wolf and GOP leaders, he said.
Governor’s position
As you might expect, the governor’s camp disagrees with most everything. Jeff Sheridan, the governor’s press secretary, and John Hangar, Secretary of Planning and Policy, told me Monday that Wolf has met the GOP “more than half way” on several issues.
Miskin tells me Wolf keeps putting the Republicans off. I asked him if there has been any progress.
“We believe we should not be in the position we are in, but Gov. Wolf vetoed the entire budget,” Miskin said. “He could have done a line item veto and kept what we were in agreement with intact.”
If that was done, Miskin said human service agencies would be able to continue operating without the threat of a shutdown. Other needed services like critical care hospitals and trauma centers wouldn’t be affected.
Miskin tells me Wolf’s total veto was deliberate. Some think Wolf was hoping the veto would get the Republicans to compromise quicker. So far, the strategy hasn’t worked.
“The mindset of this administration is that this governor thinks he knows better than anybody else,” Miskin said. “He didn’t like our budget at all.”
Miskin said schools in rural areas will suffer most because they don’t have federal funding to tap into.
Miskin believes Wolf didn’t realize what the effects of a total budget veto would be.
“And now, we are starting to see those effects,” Miskin said.
Education funding
Countered Sheridan: “We are waiting for the GOP to move, but they haven’t moved a dime” on public education funding.
Wolf remains committed to increasing education funding by $400 million in 2015-16.
“So far, we have only been met with obstruction,” Sheridan said.
Sheridan and Hangar talked about the state’s credit rating being downgraded under the previous Republican administration. They called the GOP budget “structurally unbalanced and not honest.”
Hangar said the GOP budget was “filled with gimmicks” and he said the governor’s decision to veto the entire budget was the correct move.
State Rep. Aaron Kaufer, R-Kingston, said the legislature returns to Harrisburg the week of Aug. 24. He said he feels there will be some meaningful movement once the House and Senate get back in session.
Kaufer agreed that Wolf’s straight budget veto hurt the process and as a result, many state agencies are having financial woes.
Kaufer said many state agencies are turning to borrowing money or securing lines of credit — both have interest fees attached.
“These are cash-strapped agencies,” Kaufer said. “They will have to pay back that interest, giving them even less money for programming and staffing.”
Center analysis
The Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center — which bills itself as a nonpartisan, statewide policy research service — calculated and compared how much property tax relief typical homeowners in each of Pennsylvania’s 500 school districts would receive under both plans. They found that both plans had many similarities.
The Center issued a plea to Republican lawmakers and their constituents. Here is what the Center said:
“Put on a blindfold. Take a sip of the Wolf plan. Roll it around in your mouth. Hmm, similar and sometimes more property tax relief. A state budget no longer patched together with one-time revenue sources. More state funding for local schools. How does that taste?
“Now try the other glass. More tax cuts for shopping malls. More property tax relief for people who aren’t clamoring for it and arguably don’t need it. A perpetuation of underfunded state schools and the largest gap among states in funding between affluent and poor districts.”
The Center says Pennsylvania has “a once-in-a-generation opportunity this year for real property tax reform.”
Seems like pretty good advice.
Again, I want to know why it’s taking so long for our representatives — in the legislature and in the governor’s office — to come together for the people who pay their salaries to pass a budget.
