Editorial: Will Wolf budget become impasse?
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There was an important speech made Tuesday that is worth some attention. No, not the one in Washington that has spawned a million social media posts.
It’s the one Gov. Tom Wolf gave in Harrisburg, outlining his 2020-21 budget proposal.
For Pennsylvanians, it was a laundry list of priorities the administration has moving ahead and plans to pay for it.
It is the kind of proposal filled with things that are hard to argue aren’t important, but also asks for $2.6 billion more in funding with some sourcing that is going to be a fight.
There is money for growing a bond-funded grant program that provides the cash for taking dangerous substances like lead and asbestos out of schools. No one wants kids going to school in dangerous buildings. There’s also more money to provide public and higher education, as well as human services.
The questions come with where to find all that “more.”
“There are some reasonable goals in his address, but our revenues have been prematurely spent on other things,” said state Rep. Eric Nelson, R-Hempfield.
Once again, the governor puts the idea of taxing Marcellus Shale drilling on the table, despite years of opposition.
None would come from increases in sales or income taxes. But that doesn’t mean Pennsylvanians won’t get hit with any bills. A proposed $1 per ton increase on municipal waste hauling to cover $22.6 million for a cleanup fund would no doubt find its way to customers.
A state police fee could be the biggest hit.
Instead of previously proposed ideas like a $25 per capita fee for municipalities without their own cops who rely on the state troopers, the latest plan would have all communities contribute to state police costs, whether or not they have their own coverage.
That is bound to have greater pushback than ever, as cities like Pittsburgh with their own police departments would become responsible for $189,976 in additional coverage. No municipality in the state would be on the hook for more than Westmoreland County’s Hempfield Township, which would get a bill for $3.08 million, breaking down to $76 per person.
It can only end two ways: reasonable negotiation between the Democratic governor and the Republican-led Legislature that ends in a compromise everyone can accept — or the brutal bar fight of budget impasse that has become so familiar in recent administrations.