Pennsylvania residents’ pain is Gov. Tom Wolf’s gain

The epic budget battle that began two years ago with the inauguration of Gov. TomWolf resulted in school children and nonprofits being held hostage for over nine months as legislators battled the massive tax and spending increases advocated by the new chief executive. State employees, however, were spared economic pain. As the budgeting process for the new fiscal year gets underway the first shots in what is shaping up to be an evenmore intense struggle between the Democratic governor and a legislature heavily dominated by Republicans clearly will not let state employees offthe hook. In fact, some 520 workers in the Pennsylvania Department of La- bor & Industry are among the first casualties. The skirmish over funding for Labor& Industry represents the start of whatmay turn into Pennsylvania’s longest fiscal fracas. Court rulings require state employees to be paid even if there is no budget in place by the constitutionallymandated June 30th deadline. That is one reason why little pressure was applied to the governor and lawmakers during the lengthy budget battle two years ago. But this is different. At issue is continuing a dedicated funding streamthat finances the operations of seven unemployment compensation service centers around the state. As the last hours of the 20152016 session of the General Assembly ticked away theHouse passed a bill reauthorizing the spending. Senate Republicans, however, wantedmore information which was not forthcoming fromtheWolf Administration in a timelymanner andthe clock ranout. Sensing a political opportunityWolf immediately announced layoffs and sent a labor union ally out to blame Sen. ScottWagner who plans to challenge the governor’s re-election. This despite the fact senate leaders indicated their willingness to renew the funding when the new session of the General Assembly reconvenes in January. Senators argue the layoffs are unnecessary because the administration couldmerely move funding among budget categories to cover costs until after theNewYear. Wolf claims he can’t do that, but during the long budget battle of two years ago hemade hundreds of such transfers. It isn’t amatter of can’t— it is amatter of won’t. So once again Gov. Wolf is signaling his willingness to inflict great pain upon innocent parties in his efforts to achieve his spending goals. As 570 families enter the holiday season with paychecks about to end, they are the first of millions who will suffer economic harmin the comingmonths. Charities and schools are soon to follow.

A representative survey of just 176 nonprofit organizations found that during the last budget battle 68 percent were adversely affected by the disruption in state reimbursements. Had that fight gone on much longer numerous school districts across the state would have been forced to close. Many kept their doors open only by borrowing. Likewisemany counties were forced to cut services and/or borrowmoney. All of this came at significant cost to taxpayers.

The early signal by Gov. Wolf that he plans to continue using fiscal hostage taking as a tactic is ominous. The recent General Election produced a veto-proof Republican majority in the state Senate. And while not holding veto-proof numbers in the stateHouse, Republicans did add to their already substantial majority. Thus the stage is set for a lengthy fight. Overlay all these factors with the unofficial start of the 2018 gubernatorial election cycle and it becomes quite possible Penn’sWoodsmay see something it has never seen before: a fiscal yearwith no official budget. It happens inWashington all the time where so-called continuing resolutions keep the money flowing because congress andthe president can’t agree on a spending plan. But even a state version of a continuing resolution is not possible unless all parties agree that moneymust continue to flow. At this point it is unlikely Gov. Wolf will bow to political reality any time soon. Rather he is doubling down on his policy of your pain is his gain.