Mar 10, 2011 5 min read

Corbett didn’t spread pain evenly

Gov. Tom Corbett on Tuesday did what he was hired by voters to do – make tough decisions about the state budget without raising taxes. Unfortunately, he did not dole out the pain evenly.

His proposed $27.3 billion spending plan would mean harsh realities for school districts, state and state-related universities, state workers, social service programs and public sector unions. The environment took a major hit in the form of budget cuts for renewable energy.

And taxpayers?

Our fate remains to be seen, but in the short run we face almost certain tax increases from our local public schools. Of all the losers in the state budget, education is the biggest. A Corbett aide, in a recent speech, did not list education as a core function of state government and it shows.

School districts will take a huge hit, losing $1.1 billion in funding, including $550 million in basic education spending and $2.4 million for preschool funding. Corbett argued that, for the most part, this cut represents the spending level before the federal stimulus.

He urged local teacher unions to agree to pay freezes to save districts some $400 million. And he proposed requiring taxpayers to approve any local school tax increase above the rate of inflation at the ballot box.

We applaud that idea, which would finally put teeth into the idea behind Act 1. The problem is that such a change is unlikely to become law in time for this year’s budget, and many unions will not agree to a pay freeze.

That could lead to record school property tax increases this fall.

Corbett’s proposed cuts could be devastating for state-owned and state-related universities that are seeing their funding slashed in half. Penn State is calling it “the most dramatic appropriation cut in the history of American higher education.”

Even community colleges, which are experiencing unprecedented enrollment, saw their budgets chopped. Plus, there is less money for student grants. In other words, higher tuition and less student aid.

The governor said the system of higher education with its annual tuition hikes exceeding inflation is broken, and he is right.

But state universities and community colleges are the most frugal and most economical places of higher learning. They did not deserve to bear the brunt of the pain. State workers will likely see their ranks drop by 1,500 and, like their counterparts in the teacher unions, were urged to take a one-year salary freeze – something he says many private sector workers have had to endure.

He said teachers and state workers need to set an example with their frugality. That is true and we agree.

But in a glaring omission, the governor did not call on lawmakers to make the same kind of sacrifice.

The big winners in Corbett’s proposal were business and – to no one’s surprise – especially natural gas drillers in the Marcellus shale. The governor talked about the boon this industry can be to our state in terms of jobs and revenue, saying we should be the Texas of natural gas.

He is right, especially, as he pointed out, there is a layer of natural gas underneath the Marcellus shale called the Utica shale that researchers believe is an even richer deposit.

This is an enormous opportunity for our state, but it also provides many costs to local communities and the need for putting in place safeguards to our land and water. These safeguards should be funded through a natural gas extraction tax. Yes, even Texas has one.

In other areas, we applaud the governor. He is on the right track calling for a task force to look at privatization opportunities for the state, including the state liquor stores.

The state should be out of the liquor business not specifically for the money, he said, but for the principle: because we live in a society built upon private enterprise, not state-run business. We could not agree more.

The budget would restore funding for the Educational Improvement Tax Credit program – cut under Gov. Rendell – to its 2009 level. The EITC program allows businesses to get a tax credit for providing monies that make educational choices more affordable to needy families. The program has been praised by Democrats and Republicans as a success for low-income children and Corbett is wise to strengthen it.

Walking Around Money, WAMs, would be eliminated by the governor.

We strongly urged the Legislature to have the courage to approve the elimination of this notorious means by which, as the governor put it, lawmakers essentially try to buy votes.

Already Democrats are pummeling the governor for what they call a budget balanced on the backs of the poor. At the same time, Republicans are praising him for emphasizing job development and business.

Of all recent budgets, this one might see little tinkering as GOP leaders – who control both houses – have many of the same priorities as the new governor.

But one thing that lawmakers should do is to make sure the pain is spread around.

The (Harrisburg) Patriot-News