Rendell looks back on first year in office
Gov. Ed Rendell looked back on 2003, his first year as Pennsylvania’s chief executive, with satisfaction that many of the initiatives he campaigned on have been implemented and hope that the remaining items on his wish list will be fulfilled early next year. While speaking with reporters Monday evening, Rendell rattled off a list of accomplishments made within the administration and those that required legislative approval, but 2003 will most likely be defined by the lengthy battle between the governor and leadership in the General Assembly over the 2003-04 budget that held up more than $4 billion in education subsidies for almost six months.
Now that the wrangling is over, Rendell listed the budget as one of his accomplishments of the year, saying that the spending package approved last week greatly improves the chances of success for all of the state’s students.
“It was a difficult battle and it required my compromising on two occasions, but what is extremely significant is the $258 million in new spending for targeted programs above the increase in basic subsidy,” he said. “That is perhaps record-breaking for Pennsylvania.”
He said the state has a renewed commitment to education with programs that are known to work to increase student achievement, as required by the federal No Child Left Behind Act.
The budget, which calls for an increase in the personal income tax rate from 2.8 percent to 3.07 percent, an increase on the cigarette tax and taxes on interstate phone calls and cell phone calls, reduces the state’s deficit and provides new funding only for the education programs Rendell has touted as key for student success.
Meanwhile, several more key pieces of Rendell’s Plan for a New Pennsylvania await legislative action in the new year. A bill permitting gaming in the state as a way to relieve the property tax burden on homeowners could be on the governor’s desk for signing as early as February.
Rendell noted that had the issue of Indian gaming not been brought into the mix late this year, the plan might have passed in 2003.
“There is a recognized federal process that we believe the tribes should follow, and there is no need to do it in this bill,” he said. “When you put Indian gaming into the bill, it becomes a non-starter, so we’ve got to move forward without it.”
He is still advocating slot machines for all eight of the state’s racetracks as well as a number of stand-alone sites in the Pittsburgh and Philadelphia areas, with the revenue from the stand-alone sites to go toward horse breeders and for special revenue needs in Allegheny and Philadelphia counties.
The issue of Indian gaming has been of concern to Brownsville leaders and residents after an Indian-organized business, Ohwista Ko:Wah, announced plans this fall to acquire more than 100 parcels of land in the community with plans to develop gaming on a portion of the property in question.
Rendell said he expects his economic stimulus package to be approved by the legislature sometime in February. He said legislative leaders in all four caucuses have agreed to the details and framework for the plan, which has remained virtually intact since it was introduced, though it is now “more targeted and focused.”
“I can’t wait to have these tools to add to the tools we have already,” he said. “We could be one of the top two or three states in the nation to attract new businesses.”
Among administration accomplishments in 2003, Rendell highlighted a Greene County project that is one of the state Department of Environmental Protection’s prototypes for similar projects throughout the state.
The $7 million project to treat and pump acid mine water from the abandoned Shannopin Mine and eventually use it for cooling water for a proposed power plant in West Virginia.
Construction of an acid mine drainage treatment facility at the former mine site will eliminate an environmental hazard and create new jobs and allow the Dana Mining Co. to remain in operation after it was in jeopardy of closing due to rising acidic mine water levels.
“We want to do more of these kinds of projects all over southwestern Pennsylvania,” he said. “They protect waterways, stimulate growth and create jobs.”
Rendell also commented on cost-cutting measures taken in Harrisburg, including a 10-percent cut in each department and agency and the terms of the new labor agreement with some state workers that was negotiated in July.
Among other legislative accomplishments, he spoke about the expansion of the PACE and PACENET programs to increase participation by 50 percent, plans to address the medical malpractice liability crisis, and the reduction of the amount school districts will have to pay to the Pennsylvania Public School Employees Retirement System.
When asked about regrets, Rendell said he regretted that the budget process took so long to get resolved, which held up other proposals.
“We should have property tax relief, gaming and the economic stimulus package by now, but it didn’t come to pass because of the long budget impasse,” he said, adding that the budget battle took time and attention away from other issues, including working on developing long-term goals for each of the state’s departments.
With a majority of the items he pushed for in place, or soon to be in place, Rendell said more will be done in the year ahead, and that many of the challenges that were faced this year will not be repeated in 2004.
“We have accomplished a great deal, and the things still to be done are in our sights,” he said.