On Wednesday, Gov. Tom Wolf formally released his latest budget proposal. It was hardly a surprise.
This is not the governor’s first budget, after all. In his seventh trip around this particular block, he treads on familiar territory. It pushes heavily on a central theme of increased funding for education.
This is a drum Wolf has beaten since his first campaign. He frequently has touted education as the best jack to lift the economy. From his first budget, he has promised to find a way to reverse the deep cuts made to education under previous administrations of both parties.
In a perfect world, seeing an extra $1.35 billion going into making Pennsylvania kids smarter and better prepared to meet the demands of a changing world and an evolving economy is a great idea. Providing the best education possible should be the priority of every government because a well-educated populace makes better workers, better innovators, better leaders, better everything.
Unfortunately, this isn’t a perfect world. It’s a world where no matter how amazing the goal, someone still has to pay the bill, and Wolf’s proposal also comes with a tax increase that would affect the top third of Pennsylvania paychecks. It is built on raising the personal income tax rate from 3.07% to 4.49%, but simultaneously expands exemptions and tax forgiveness to mitigate impact on lower-paid earners.
Predictably, Republican legislators balk at the cost, which comes after a year that has been a body blow for many businesses and families thanks to the coronavirus pandemic.
”The mom-and-pop stores will bear the brunt of this proposal,” said Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman, R- Centre County. “Small employers and middle-class families are what drive economic recoveries. Gov. Wolf has put yet another target on their backs.”
So we have a budget proposal that shocks no one and a Legislative response that could be seen coming a mile away. Neither of them is wrong. While neither side would necessarily admit it, both are well intended. Wolf doesn’t want to hurt taxpayers. The legislature doesn’t want to hurt education.
Once again we have two sides convinced that their own ideas are the only ones that will work. This couldn’t possibly end in another budget impasse, could it? History tells us that’s a good possibility — and that’s something that won’t help taxpayers or schools.
It’s also something that continues the pattern of both sides arguing over the best way to hammer the same nail, with neither of them realizing that a bolt and a wrench might get the job done better.
— The Tribune-Review/TNS
