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Budget blues in Harrisburg
It’s the last day of June, do you know where your new state budget is?
That gives you something in common with our representatives in Harrisburg.
State law mandates that Pennsylvania new fiscal plan be in place on July 1. Barring a miracle, that’s not going to happen. Instead, for the seventh straight year, not coincidentally each year of Gov. Ed Rendell’s reign, the state’s budget talks will go into overtime.
This is a battle that pits the governor vs. Senate Republicans, including Sen. Dominic Pileggi, R-9, of Chester. Whatever Rendell wants to do will fly in the House, where Democrats hold a majority. That’s not the case in the Senate, which has already passed a budget measure of their own, one that holds the line on spending and taxes.
Buffeted by a historic economic downturn, the state is looking at a $3 billion budget shortfall. With no other alternative, Rendell wants a temporary three year hike of a half percent in the state’s personal income tax.
Pileggi and Republicans in the Senate say that’s exactly the wrong thing to do when so many people are already struggling to pay their bills.
So here we sit. To be decided are the fate of state workers, funding for schools, and spending on health care.
None of it is going to likely to happen anytime soon. Don’t cancel those July 4th barbecues. This thing is almost guaranteed to drag into next week, if not beyond.
Technically, the state loses the ability to spend money tomorrow unless they have a budget in place. They could pass a stopgap measure, but no one seems terribly inclined to do so.
Tens of thousands of state employees likely will get only partial paychecks on July 17 and 24. After that they may not get paid at all.
Legislators aren’t as lucky. They get paid at the beginning of the month. That won’t happen without a budget in place.
This is old hat in Harrisburg. For the rest of us, it’s just old. The rest of the civilized world deals with budgets every day, at home, at work, at school.
It’s only in the state Capitol where this seems to be a novel idea. The state deserves better. Don’t hold your breath waiting for it to happen anytime soon.
That gives you something in common with our representatives in Harrisburg.
State law mandates that Pennsylvania new fiscal plan be in place on July 1. Barring a miracle, that’s not going to happen. Instead, for the seventh straight year, not coincidentally each year of Gov. Ed Rendell’s reign, the state’s budget talks will go into overtime.
This is a battle that pits the governor vs. Senate Republicans, including Sen. Dominic Pileggi, R-9, of Chester. Whatever Rendell wants to do will fly in the House, where Democrats hold a majority. That’s not the case in the Senate, which has already passed a budget measure of their own, one that holds the line on spending and taxes.
Buffeted by a historic economic downturn, the state is looking at a $3 billion budget shortfall. With no other alternative, Rendell wants a temporary three year hike of a half percent in the state’s personal income tax.
Pileggi and Republicans in the Senate say that’s exactly the wrong thing to do when so many people are already struggling to pay their bills.
So here we sit. To be decided are the fate of state workers, funding for schools, and spending on health care.
None of it is going to likely to happen anytime soon. Don’t cancel those July 4th barbecues. This thing is almost guaranteed to drag into next week, if not beyond.
Technically, the state loses the ability to spend money tomorrow unless they have a budget in place. They could pass a stopgap measure, but no one seems terribly inclined to do so.
Tens of thousands of state employees likely will get only partial paychecks on July 17 and 24. After that they may not get paid at all.
Legislators aren’t as lucky. They get paid at the beginning of the month. That won’t happen without a budget in place.
This is old hat in Harrisburg. For the rest of us, it’s just old. The rest of the civilized world deals with budgets every day, at home, at work, at school.
It’s only in the state Capitol where this seems to be a novel idea. The state deserves better. Don’t hold your breath waiting for it to happen anytime soon.
posted by Heron's Nest at
7:19 AM
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