Editorial: Shapiro wants to build on ‘what we did last year together.’ Really?
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Ah, time has come once again for that wonderful rite of February when a state icon pops up for a moment in the sun.
No, not Groundhog Day. That was last week. Tuesday was the governor’s budget address.
Much like the festivities at Gobbler’s Knob in Punxsutawney, the annual event in Harrisburg is an opportunity to put on a show. The items in the governor’s address are just as likely to come to pass as a rodent’s winter weather predictions.
That is unfortunate because the projects sound fantastic. The aspirations are ideal. The exhortations to cooperation are something state government desperately needs.
They also are not going to happen — which is why any of the proposals Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro or his predecessors put out have all the concrete foundations of a preschooler’s letter to Santa.
“Let’s build on the work we’ve already done together,” Shapiro said with the feel of a football coach at halftime. “What we did last year together is working.”
Really, governor?
Pennsylvania is one of just 10 states where the governor and Legislature are divided along party lines. Pennsylvania also has the distinction of being divided between the House and Senate, as well, making it a three-legged stool for every negotiation. That could give it more stability. If the 2023 budget negotiations were any indication, it just makes everything a lot more wobbly.
The education funding and prioritization on which Shapiro — like Tom Wolf before him — wants to build economic growth was a protracted mess last year. A big part of that was Shapiro’s negotiation with Senate Republicans over a vouchers program that fell apart when going back to House Democrats. Coming to agreements on the budget then became a piecemeal process that only ended on the last day of work for lawmakers in 2023.
That doesn’t sound like working together.
And education funding is a battle that has to be fought every year. It’s not like passing a single bill that becomes law and you can move on to a new issue.
But Shapiro wants to toss a more complex topic into the mix this year.
“I ask you to come together and send to my desk a bill that legalizes marijuana. But that bill should ensure the industry is regulated and taxed responsibly,” he said.
Perhaps the allure of piles of tax money that won’t necessarily come from hard-pressed constituents will make that possible. But it’s an election year, so don’t count on it.
Shapiro’s budget address was filled with grand ideas. It would be great to double investment in the state’s Fire and EMS Grant Program, and $100 million to address gun violence would be a good start to a big problem. Eviction diversion, probation reform, mental health support, maternal mortality and more are certainly things to be addressed.
But funding our schools is something we must do already. It is required by law. The state already has been told by a court that it is falling down on doing that fairly and equitably. And yet it is never a collaboration. It always is a fist fight.
The address sounded good, but time will tell if Shapiro’s spirit of cooperation is coming early this year or if Pennsylvania will really have six more months of budget negotiations.