ALLENTOWN (TNS) — With less than two years left in his term, Gov. Tom Wolf is running out of time to implement his agenda.
That’s the only reason I can come up with for the budget he proposed Wednesday.
He wants to increase spending by $3.8 billion. And he wants to fund it by jacking up the personal income tax rate — which a lot of small business owners pay — during a pandemic when the economy is sputtering.
It’s admirable that Wolf, a Democrat, wants to pump more money into education. But this isn’t the time to raise income taxes, or increase the size of state government, particularly on the backs of small business owners who have been crushed by the coronavirus.
Rather, it’s a time to streamline and refocus government.
Wolf proposes raising the personal income tax rate from 3.07% to 4.49%, and making more families exempt from it.
A household of two adults and two children earning less than $50,000 would pay no income taxes. One earning between $50,000 and $84,000 would pay lower taxes. One earning more than $84,000 would pay higher taxes.
While that may sound like cause to rejoice, or fret, depending on your income, don’t bother. There is no chance of Wolf’s plan being enacted by the Republican-controlled Legislature.
Since lawmakers previously have balked at reasonable tax requests in recent years, such as a severance tax on fracking and a fee for state police coverage, there’s no reason to believe they will agree to one that isn’t appropriate right now.
Pieces of the governor’s proposal make sense. They could happen without a tax increase and still improve schools, especially schools such as Allentown.
Wolf wants to run every dollar of state education money through the fair-funding formula. That’s the formula that requires funding to consider factors such as poverty rates, tax bases, charter school costs and how many students don’t speak English as their first language.
The formula isn’t fair, though, because it doesn’t cover all state education funding. It covers only “new” money since the law was approved five years ago. That’s only 11% of the total.
Every dollar should be allocated based on that formula. But it’s not necessary to raise taxes to do that.
Wolf’s plan relies on additional revenue to ensure no district loses funding in the shift. That shouldn’t be a concern. For years, that formula has favored some districts that have plentiful savings or are located in prosperous communities with growing tax bases, that can afford to pay a higher local share through property taxes.
If necessary, the shift could be phased in over several years to make it easier to digest.
Until we get through the pandemic and any lingering effects, state government must get back to the basics. It must prioritize essential services such as education, public health and safety, criminal justice, elections and highway and bridge maintenance.
Non-essential programs should be curtailed for a time and their money re-allocated.
Farmland preservation is good for the environment and communities, but the money would be better spent elsewhere now. It is budgeted for $40 million, which is pennies compared to the size of the state budget. But these days, every penny counts.
State parks and trails have proven their value during the pandemic, giving people a place to go to burn off stress and get outside without exposing themselves to crowds. The facilities we have now will have to suffice, though. That also means limiting recreation spending to just enough to maintain the current facilities. Don’t build anything new.
Tax breaks for corporations to relocate to the state should be done away with, as well. That money should be redirected to existing businesses that are struggling because they were shut down or required to reduce occupancy.
There are plenty of other opportunities, too.
Implementing other parts of Wolf’s budget proposal would boost spending for essential services without costing taxpayers. They include restructuring charter school tuition by setting a flat rate for cyber charters and applying the special education formula to charters. Combined, those changes would save school districts $229 million annually, Wolf’s office said.
He proposes doing away with the state’s handout to the horse racing industry, by redirecting $199 million to tuition assistance for students attending the 14 state system universities, including Kutztown and East Stroudsburg.
Students receiving the aid would agree to stay in Pennsylvania after graduation for the same number of years for which they receive assistance. Wolf also proposed that idea last year but it wasn’t enacted.
I hope lawmakers will give those parts of Wolf’s budget proposal consideration, and make their own suggestions for how to refocus government on the basics.
(Paul Muschick is a columnist for The Morning Call of Allentown.)
