If the comparatively swift delivery of a budget is any sign, state lawmakers and Gov. Tom Wolf heard loud and clear the public’s dissatisfaction with the previous year’s gridlock. If they have some momentum going now, they should use it to press forward on other important issues.
The standoff over the 2015-2016 budget dragged on for months, imperiling the social service agencies and public schools that rely on public funding. The debacle showcased the new governor’s political inexperience and limited negotiating skills. Public anger likely resulted in quicker action this time around. A spending plan without a revenue package became law without Mr. Wolf’s signature Tuesday, 12 days into the fiscal year. The Legislature passed the revenue component Wednesday, and Mr. Wolf has pledged to sign it.
The budget keeps steady the personal income and sales taxes rates, as it should, and increases taxes on cigarettes and tobacco. The allocation for basic education funding was increased $200 million, to about $6 billion, as school districts struggle with spiraling teacher pension costs. The allocation for pre-kindergarten programs increased $30 million, to about $196.5 million. That is far less than the $90 million increase advocates sought with the goal of putting another 7,400 youngsters in classrooms.
Lawmakers and Mr. Wolf have substantive questions ahead of them that will require a continuation of bipartisan collaboration. The House and Senate have passed separate versions of pension reform for future state employees and teachers. These must be reconciled and the governor brought on board so that the state and school districts can move away from crippling defined benefit plans long ago abandoned by the private sector. Decisions must be made about the expansion of gaming. While the state is embarking on what it calls partial liquor privatization, that does not go far enough. The state must once and for all eliminate its dinosaur liquor monopoly, a move Mr. Wolf thwarted with a wrongheaded veto in 2015.
First Published: July 15, 2016, 4:00 a.m.
