Surplus blindness: Pa. leaders sit on tax reserves, and needs go unmet
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In March, when Gov. Tom Corbett put forth a budget plan with deep cuts to address a $4 billion deficit, state officials were predicting only a $78 million surplus by the end of the fiscal year.
With June 30 a month away, it turns out that prediction was off by a factor of six. Pennsylvania's jobless rate is lower than the U.S. average and business in the state has been doing much better. The latest estimate is that stronger revenue collections from taxes will deliver a surplus of $506 million.
Despite the new reality, total spending being sought for next year by the governor is the same as in March -- $27.3 billion. On Tuesday the Republican-controlled House of Representatives voted along party lines to approve a similar plan and send it to the Senate, still at $27.3 billion and sure to trigger higher property taxes, more expensive college tuitions, deferred road and bridge repairs, cancellation of some all-day kindergartens, etc.
The newfound half-billion in surplus could alleviate some of that pain, but the governor and House Republicans are bent on keeping the extra money in reserve. It's like a homeowner seeing the roof leak, the stove broken and rats in the cellar; instead of using an unexpected tax refund to fix up the place, he chooses to bank the money. Try selling that to the wife and kids.
The latest sign that Republicans pretend to be blind to the big surplus appears in the House-approved budget. The plan dropped an agreement from last year that would have helped Pennsylvania hospitals get more federal dollars to help cover the cost of Medicaid patients. The nearly 250 health facilities offered to be assessed, or taxed, $246.5 million over three years. The money would be routed through the state's General Fund, so it could leverage greater reimbursements from Washington for health care in Pennsylvania -- something routinely done by other states.
State officials said Pennsylvania can't afford to honor the agreement. Even with a half-billion in surplus.
The repeated refusal to acknowledge the state's larger flow of revenue, while being slavish to a gantlet of budget cuts devised months ago, suggests that something more than averting a deficit is going on.
This no longer looks like a blueprint for fiscal responsibility. It has the feel and smell of something ideological. This harsh new outlook is all about downsizing the role of state government, not just in dollars, but as a force for good education, proper health care, sound roads, economic opportunity.
If elected officials can succeed in putting $506 million in the deep freeze instead of using it for basic budget needs, then they will have condemned Pennsylvania to an alarming state of disrepair and callousness.
First Published May 27, 2011 12:00 am
