Written by Roberta BirosFor the endless number of citizens that depend on the flow of State funds to stay afloat, the most recent news out of Harrisburg is less than optimistic. When we last checked, the budget negotiation process was held up in the six person conference committee. Three Democrats and three Republicans were being “locked up together” and assigned the task of hammering out the details of a balanced budget. For weeks we have waited for some glimmer of hope, but we have been repeatedly disappointed. Yesterday, talks broke down once again, and this time the Democrats are accusing the Republicans of playing “political games”.
HELLO? From what I’ve observed, the citizens of Pennsylvania have seen nothing BUT “political games” since February when the budget was introduced by the Governor. We didn’t see a budget proposal from the Republican-led Senate until May. When it was received by the Democrat-controlled House, it was sent to the House Appropriations Committee where it SAT until the budget deadline had nearly come and passed. Senate Bill 850 was then eventually “passed” by the House for the soul purpose of allowing the Governor to eliminate all funding other than funding for State Employees and funding for the Governor’s own Executive Branch. Hmmm. Sure sounds like politics to me?
Since the beginning of this battle, Democrats have stood firmly for increased spending paid for by increased taxes, and Republicans have stood for less spending with no tax increases. My research has found that overwhelmingly individual taxpayers agree that tax increases ARE NOT the answer, but in a ridiculous “political” twist this week, Democrats are now implying that the GOP opposition to tax increases is motivated only by “big business” (natural gas and cigarette interests). Huh? Are you kidding me? What’s next? What old trick will the parties pull out of their “political handbooks”?
During the past few weeks, it looked as though there might be some small granule of hope when fiscal conservative Democrats agreed to sit down with fiscal conservatives from the GOP to work on a non-partisan and fiscally responsible “compromise budget”. It was all well and good until the “so called” Blue Dogs were pulled in by their leashes by their Party. The Blue Dogs were sent to the corner for a little “time out”, and fiscal conservatives from the right were left without the numbers and support to make a difference. [As a side note, if you can’t support a fiscally conservative budget, you aren’t a “fiscal conservative” and not a “Blue Dog” . . . so please don’t “soil the name” . . . just my opinion.]
Now here we sit . . . eight weeks have passed since the June 30th deadline and our leaders in Harrisburg are no further along than they were in February. The latest news reports state that the Democrats and Republicans are ONLY $500 million dollars apart. ONLY? FIVE HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS? That is a HALF A BILLION to you and me. That seems like a WORLD of difference from where I stand.
I’ve been asked many times over the last few weeks what I think about the budget negotiations. I’ve been asked, “How long do you think this will go on?”
Well, folks, I’m sorry to say that I am not hopeful at this point. It is my opinion that we are potentially weeks or months away from any sort of agreement. I would bet that the “best case” scenario might be a finalized budget by late September. On the “worst case” side, I would say that Thanksgiving and Christmas are a possibility. Maybe we all need to send our “letters to Santa” a little earlier this year in hopes of getting some help from a jolly old man in a red suit (I wonder if Governor Rendell owns a “red suit”?).
One More Thing . . .
I’ve been personally talking to many voters in Mercer County lately. Many have brought up their concerns regarding the budget. Many are also under the misunderstanding that our State Representatives are to be blamed for this mess. I’ve had folks specifically blaming State Representative Mark Longietti and State Representative Michele Brooks for the stalemate in Harrisburg, and specifically saying that neither one should receive support for re-election because of it. Now hold on just a minute----I’d like to point out that individual Representatives are not responsible for the problems that are occurring with the budget standstill at this point. Beginning in May, the budget was controlled by a handful of legislators in the Appropriations Committee. Most recently, the budget has been in the hands of the six legislative leaders that make up the conference committee. State Representatives are working independently to come up with ideas and possible solutions, but the responsibility sits firmly in the laps of the Appropriations Committee, the conference committee, and the Governor. State Reps like Mark Longietti and Michele Brooks haven’t even had an opportunity to vote on a final budget yet. They are simply hostages in these negotiations like the rest of us. Let’s wait until after the General Assembly has voted on a final budget before we start pointing fingers and blaming our legislators . . . that is if we EVER get the opportunity to see a "final budget".
As always, just my opinion.
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