More pain expected in Corbett's budget proposal
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Gov. Tom Corbett toured the Kurt J. Lesker Co., a manufacturer of vacuum products in Jefferson Hills, in April, defending his 2011 budget decisions. More cuts are expected for the 2012 budget.
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HARRISBURG -- His first state budget proposal and its billion dollars in cuts brought months of angry outcry from students, labor unions, Democrats and the physically disabled.
This year? Expect more of the same.
Gov. Tom Corbett's proposal for his sophomore-year spending plan to be outlined in his budget address on Tuesday is expected to trigger another raucous fight over the commonwealth's priorities, a fact the governor himself has acknowledged.
"You know how difficult last year's budget was -- I don't expect this year's budget to be a whole lot different," said Mr. Corbett during his comments to Republican State Committee members a week ago. He has given no hints about specifics, but said, "It won't be a lot easier. You don't change that course in one budget cycle."
Like last year, state revenues continue to be sluggish. Halfway through the fiscal year, tax collections are higher than they were 12 months earlier but remain a half-billion dollars short of projections.
In the absence of new taxes, that means slashing program funding to keep pace with certain costs over which the state has little control.
Many of the groups that fought vigorously against those cuts are preparing for battle again. Students from the University of Pittsburgh and Penn State University already have rallied in the Capitol rotunda to lobby against further funding reductions.
Senate Democrats and a coalition of labor groups have pushed to find savings and close tax loopholes in order to spend more on education and job-creation initiatives.
"Are we going to repeat the same things from last year that didn't work?" asked AFL-CIO president Rick Bloomingdale, pointing to 21,000 public-sector jobs lost last year as a ripple effect from reducing state aid to counties and municipalities.
While revenue collections have not met projections, Rep. Joe Markosek, D-Monroeville, the ranking member on the House Appropriations Committee, said revenues might not fall short for the year. Some of the months of heavier revenue collections are still to come, he said.
"Where they've gone ahead and projected a bad year, it just gives them an excuse to make drastic cuts they may not have to make when the time actually comes," Mr. Markosek said.
The Republicans who control both legislative chambers, however, say even the projected revenues are no match for the mandated increases to pension and welfare costs.
First Published February 5, 2012 12:00 am
