Budget
Reform commission could work Hard as is it to believe, there are a few who still defend Pennsylvania’s 101-day budget standoff as “democracy in action.”
Most who say this are in the leadership of the legislative caucuses directly responsible for the delay. They harbor the twisted logic that because it was a “tough year” it was acceptable to hold out, no matter who was harmed along the way.
For everyone else in Pennsylvania, what happened was a disgrace. For the state workers who didn’t get paid during July, it was an affront that stung their pocketbooks. For the numerous schools and social service groups that didn’t get their funds for more than three months, it was as if government didn’t care if they failed. For taxpayers across the state, it was mind-boggling that legislators receiving $80,000 a year salaries couldn’t do their job.
What happened this year was democracy in disarray and should not be repeated. Anything the state House and Senate can do to assure it never happens again should be done.
After the governor signed the budget bill Oct. 9, a number of rank-and-file legislators have come forward with legislation to try to reform the process.
Rep. Ron Marsico, R-Lower Paxton Twp., and Mike Stack, D-Philadelphia, put forward the idea of legislators forfeiting pay for every day past June 30 the state does not have a budget.
Rep. Kerry Benninghoff, R-Centre, suggested having last year’s budget roll over at 80 percent if there is no budget by July 1. That would at least keep the payments flowing and, one hopes, put pressure on the Legislature to get the budget done on time.
These proposals (among others) have gone nowhere.
In a last-ditch effort, Rep. Glen Grell, R-Hampden Twp., introduced a resolution last week to create a bipartisan Commission on Budgetary Reform. In politics, if you don’t want to do something you know you ought to, you create a commission to “study it” and “make recommendations.”
It’s a way to put off the tough decisions a little longer and allow someone else to do the heavy lifting. But it can have real impact if done in earnest as did the Speaker’s Commission on Legislative Reform in 2007, which put an end to midnight voting and required legislators to be present when voting.
Grell’s resolution has 57 co-sponsors, including several Democrats. It’s a sizable contingent that demonstrates how frustrated many of the rank and file are.
Despite the support, Rep. Grell told The Patriot-News editorial board, he thinks it has “no chance” of going anywhere before the holiday. House Speaker Keith McCall’s office indicated he has little interest in the resolution.
The reason? Grell’s commission focuses only on House reforms, and the House leadership does not want to see the Senate get an unfair advantage if the House makes reforms.
It’s the same kind of chicken-and-egg pettiness between the House and Senate that kept the budget from getting done (and it still isn’t done, with table games unresolved and the state-related universities without their funding).
The proposed commission could be changed easily to include the House and the Senate. Each caucus could appoint six members. Working jointly might even lead to more substantive process reforms.
There is real momentum for the commission and the possibility of thoughtful reform it represents. The rank-and-file members who are pushing it should not back down.
The (Harrisburg) Patriot-News