Gov.: Cut and Invest
Gov. Ed Rendell delivered a budget address on Tuesday that no one liked. Yet he said what needed to be said – government spending must be slashed drastically. There is no other way out. Pennsylvania is deeply falling behind, with a projected $2.4 billion deficit. Revenue for this year is way off, and even if a “no growth” budget were enacted the debt would continue to pile up.
Most of the 5,000-plus words spoken by Rendell carried a painful message. Across-the-board 10 percent cuts for every department and agency under his control. Leaving 1,536 vacant state jobs unfilled. Eliminating grants to sewage treatment plants, performance grants to schools, community project grants. Few are spared from the cuts: social, welfare, health, colleges. Rendell left no program untouched. And he grabbed at the same quick fixes the previous administration adopted last year. The balance of the Rainy Day fund will be used and $330 million siphoned off the tobacco settlement fund. Not one of his proposals will gain narrow, let alone wide support. In fact, for every dollar sliced, someone or some agency, community, school will cry out that they will be irreparably harmed. Undoubtedly, it’s the same message Rendell heard as mayor of Philadelphia when early on he solved the city’s financial morass with much the same method: Cut and Invest.
The second part of Rendell’s message -crafting an economic stimulus plan – offers Pennsylvanians hope of a speedy recovery, but it will force Pennsylvania to increase its debt.
Some will argue that borrowing in the midst of a deficit could force the state into a downward spiral. That isn’t what the governor envisions in adopting the Philadelphia plan on a larger scale.
The governor hasn’t finished presenting his ideas on pulling Pennsylvania out of troubled financial waters. (His second phase will be presented to the General Assembly later this month.)
Rendell recognized that his address would be unwelcome in most circles and said that he also hates this budget. He called for a full and vigorous debate. He is sure to get one.