Budget deadlock costs taxpayers money
HARRISBURG – State lawmakers have spent more than $150,000 trying to reach a compromise on education spending and still are no closer to an agreement. And the longer it takes to finalize Pennsylvania’s budget for the 2003-04 fiscal year, which began more than a month ago, the more it costs taxpayers.
Every legislative day that goes by without a budget in place means $7,000 in extra expenses. Lawmakers receive $125 per diem fees, catered meals and travel expenses. Ultimately, the 33-days-and-counting delay could cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars.
“Certainly the budget process, especially this year, has not been a well-managed process and I suspect there are some direct and hidden costs that do cost the taxpayer some money,” said Barry Kauffman, Pennsylvania director for Common Cause, a government watchdog group.
The state Constitution says that the General Assembly should pass the budget by the end of June. Typically, lawmakers do that and then recess during most of July and August. This year, lawmakers passed most of the budget in March.
But partisan politics has delayed the education portion of the spending plan that range from $4 billion to $5.3 billion.
“This is clearly an extraordinary year,” Kauffman said. “I don’t think ever in the history of Pennsylvania has a new governor walked in with the fiscal problems we have now and at the same time have a Legislature completely dominated by the opposite party.”
Gov. Ed Rendell, a Democrat, wants to invest $1.3 billion in early-childhood programs and other educational initiatives, but the Republican-controlled General Assembly opposes the 34 percent increase in personal income tax he’s proposing to fund it. Republicans and Democrats have been trading blame, saying the other side won’t compromise. For a person making $50,000, Rendell’s proposed tax increase would be $475 more a year.
“This budget could have been passed by midnight June 30,” said House Minority Leader H. William DeWeese (D-Waynesburg). “The governor will not say it, but I believe responsibility rests solely on the shoulders of the Senate Republican leadership who maintain their perch high atop the [General Assembly].”
“All the governor needs to do is signal that he’ll sign a basic education funding bill, which we’ve already passed,” said Erik Arneson, chief of staff for Senate Majority Leader David “Chip” Brightbill (R-Lebanon). “On basic education funding, we’re absolutely not guilty of holding up the budget. If we’re guilty of the crime of opposing a tax increase, then we’re guilty.”
The standoff has sent the budget process into overtime. The Senate logged seven session days this July. During the same month last year, they were only in session for one day. The House, meanwhile, has logged 13 session days this July compared to just two this time last year.
The extra days mean extra costs.
Each lawmaker is eligible to receive a minimum of $35 per session day and a maximum of $125, if he lives 50 miles or more away from the Capitol and stays overnight in Harrisburg after a session day, according to the House Bipartisan Management Committee. (The per diem fees are in addition to lawmakers’ salaries, which are about $65,000 annually.) Of the state’s 203 state representatives, 177 live outside the 50-mile radius.
At the least, a session day costs about $7,000 in per diem fees. At most, a House session day could run about $23,000. The high occurred at least once last month, on July 18, when the session ran past midnight, guaranteeing that all 177 members who live outside the 50-mile radius would get the full $125.
It’s difficult to determine the exact costs for each session day since many receipts haven’t been remitted yet. Even if July 18 were an exception and the House racked up the minimum cost for the 12 other session days in July, the per diem costs for the extra days would total about $107,000. And that’s not including the Senate, which has easily run up $14,000 in expenses.
Per diem fees aren’t the only cost. Lawmakers also are reimbursed for travel expenses, according to the House Comptroller’s Office. Those who use a car from the state’s vehicle fleet – and most of them do – may remit their gas receipts. Lawmakers who use state funds to lease an automobile get 18 cents per mile for their commute from their district to Harrisburg, and those who use their own vehicles to travel receive 36 cents per mile.
Because he uses his own car, DeWeese’s 460-mile roundtrip from Waynesburg alone costs taxpayers about $165. With 50 senators and 203 representatives traveling to and from all ends of the state, travel expenses for each extra summer trip to the Capitol can add up to thousands of dollars.
There are also meals. When lawmakers have evening sessions, party leaders often hire catering companies to supply dinner. At $10 to $12 per head, feeding the entire House can cost a couple thousand dollars, according to legislative staff. Senators say they do not indulge in such a perk.
Most lawmakers don’t deny that, when every expense is taken into account, each session day can cost tens of thousands of dollars. But in the context of a $21 billion annual state budget, some say it’s just a drop in the bucket.
Technically, the extra session days aren’t costing the state anything extra, lawmakers point out. About $230 million has already been budgeted for the session overruns, and it doesn’t appear that the Legislature is in any danger of going over.
But, in reality, the extra session days do cost money, because any funds saved from one fiscal year are used for the next fiscal year. That occurred last year, when party leaders took $4 million in leftover General Assembly funds from the 2001-02 budget and applied it to the 2002-03 budget.
Regardless, the extra costs may be a necessary evil. It’s better to take time and do the budget right than rush it and pass a bad spending plan, Kauffman said.
“It could be even more expensive both in terms of money expended and the quality of education to not do the job right,” he said. “So, it’s a balancing act.
“But I think what it comes down to, as we say almost every year, is the whole process for state budget is not well-managed in general. I’m not casting aspersions on the governor or the Legislature because they both have some blame to bear here.”