Lawmakers challenged
Gov. Ed Rendell closed a budget address to lawmakers with parting words they should take to heart. Pennsylvanians aren’t sitting at home with scorecards keeping track of whether Republicans or Democrats win the most rounds in advancing their causes. But they do care about good schools, job growth and how much money they must pay to support these programs.
The Budget Revisted, presented by Rendell on Tuesday, was nearly as painful to hear as his address earlier this month in which he made deep cuts into nearly every facet of government.
He had asked lawmakers to wait until he revealed Part 2. But before he had left the chamber, Republicans had hatched a scheme to pass the austere plan at a record-breaking pace.
If it were a test to determine whether Rendell was serious about cuts, then he passed. Part 2 doesn’t look back.
It is a forward-advancing plan that some might view, as Rendell does, as an investment in Pennsylvania’s future. Others might conclude it is a merely as a typical Democrat tax-and-spend plan.
Regardless, it is worthy of debate and one that Sen. Robert J. Thompson, the Republican chairman of the Senate Appropriation Committee, is willing to entertain.
The people of Pennsylvania deserve no less. They have pleaded with their representatives in Harrisburg to address school funding and school performance. They have complained about lack of job growth.
Lawmakers can no longer remain deaf to pleas from constituents and they must rise above the Capital inertia.
Finally, legislators are being urged to demonstrate leadership.
For the sake of Pennsylvania’s future, we would hope that they rise to the challenge and realize that there is more to governing than caucus posturing.