More woes
When the Pennsylvania Legislature reconvenes this week for the 2017-18 session, lawmakers are facing many difficult issues.
There’s the budget with an estimated $600 million deficit that will have to be balanced in some fashion. There is also a myriad of other long-time issues that will have to be dealt with such as property taxes, pension costs, gambling revenues and education spending.
Now, there’s another one you can add to the already lengthy list.
According to the Patriot-News in Harrisburg, the huge increase in the number of baby boomers is taking a toll on the Pennsylvania Lottery, which foots the bill for the programs that serves them.
As things stand now, the newspaper reported that the lottery could face a $70 million deficit in the next fiscal year, which could skyrocket in the coming years.
In addition to funding Medicaid programs, the proceeds from the lottery pay for property tax and rent rebate, prescription assistance, free- and reduced-fare transportation and home- and community-based services for non-Medicaid-eligible seniors. While the numbers are down for transportation programs, there’s been an increase in community-based services which allow seniors to live in their homes instead of having to move into nursing homes.
The problem in Pennsylvania is that 17 percent of residents in the commonwealth are over the age of 65. The numbers are even higher locally. All four local counties recorded higher-than-average numbers, including Greene County at 17.5 percent, Washington County at 19.3 percent, Fayette County at 19.9 percent and Westmoreland County at 21.2 percent.
And those numbers are expected to rise by 25 percent over the next 15 years.
With more people living longer, there’s more of a need for the services funded by the lottery. With more services being used, there’s increasing pressure on the lottery to increase its revenues.
Among the items being looked at are:
n Selling Powerball and MegaMillion tickets at gas pumps.
n Selling gift cards for lottery tickets.
n Allowing people to use debit and credit cards to buy lottery tickets.
n Placing machines to sell tickets in about half of the state’s wine and spirits stores.
n Unveiling a new category of games called Fast Play.
However, it’s not clear if any or all of those measures will be able to bring in the massive amounts of money needed to return the lottery fund to solvency.
So, other cuts may be necessary including the 10-year-old practice of relying on lottery funds to help offset more than $300 million for nursing home and other services for Medicaid-eligible seniors. The money would be shifted to the state’s general fund, but that could be problematic with the state already in serious financial trouble.
There’s also talk about the Legislature reconsidering the state’s tax exemption on retirement income. Reportedly, Pennsylvania is one of only two states that entirely exempts all pension and retirement income from taxation. But with the gubernatorial election coming up next year, it’s hard to see either party pushing this proposal very hard.
In the end, though, something will have to be done. Either a way must be found to raise the revenues needed to operate the programs for seniors or cuts will have to be made. It’s all going to make for some difficult decisions, especially for GOP lawmakers, who control both chambers. But that’s the job they were elected to do, and no one ever said it was going to be easy.