If House plan is the final budget, GOP could face electoral doom in November
By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times
It looks like Gov. Tom Corbett could be winning his budget battle, but could be losing the war — and maybe a handful of state legislative seats in Chester County. We may have a better sense how bad the mess will be once a state budget is passed, maybe even by Monday.
The House of Representatives passed a budget Thursday with no tax on shale extraction, no additional revenue of any kind, and no answer for the public pension mess and assumes some $385 million in extra money from liquor privatization, despite there being no plan for doing with enough votes to pass the state Senate. It doesn’t appear to actually account for the lower revenues coming in, either, depending on what appear to be optimistic (maybe wildly so) estimates.
While only 11 out of 50 states are seeing revenue shortfalls, Pennsylvania stands out from its neighbors with a more sluggish than regionally typical economy and revenue shortfalls falling anywhere from $1.5 to $1.7 billion, again, depending on your source.
Depending on who you talk to, it’s either a fiscally stringent budget, or one that depends on gimmicks and will crash and burn before the spring snows melt in 2015. Consider that this is a budget process entirely controlled by Republicans, and yet it appears highly likely that there won’t be a budget completed by the July 1 deadline. This is a testament to the fact that this is such an untenable budget for many legislators and a sign of increasing chaos among Harrisburg Republicans.
If the failure on liquor privatization and virtually no progress on a workable solution for the pension mess, despite Republicans controlling both houses of the legislature and the governor’s mansion, are the first two, Corbett’s third strike might be the lack of extraction tax on shale gas. Pennsylvania is the only state without such a tax. Despite Corbett’s insistence that drillers were paying a lot in other taxes, according to Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center, drillers are paying pretty much what they were paying before drilling started, which begs a lot of questions.
The first, of course, is why shale drillers deserve a special break, as opposed to property tax payers?
Add in the fact that Corbett has been hammered, and it appears rightly so, based on the results (or lack of them) of these sort of corporate handouts at the expense of public schools, and things look less than rosy for Corbett’s reelection prospects. One must imagine Democrat Tom Wolf struggling to figure out which issue to hit the governor on first — there could be too many to choose from.
As bad as it is for Corbett, imagine if you were an incumbent state legislator in a shaky district — say Dan Truitt in the 156th or Duane Milne in the 167th — or a GOP candidate for an open seat, Cuyler Walker in the 158th or Harry Lewis Jr. in the 74th — they have to feel, at least privately, that Corbett is a bit of a Titanic right now, and these budget moves are a bit like being tossed life preservers made from concrete.
Aside from the fact that majority of folks have identified school funding as a key issue and that a strong majority of voters in the southeast support an extraction tax (and to be honest, there’s probably a majority in both houses of the state legislature that would support a 4% extraction tax today if it could ever get to the floor for a vote), and the fact that Pennsylvania’s economy is clearly lagging both its neighbors and the national trend, these legislative candidates are stuck clinging to highly unpopular positions — even if a number of them don’t personally agree with them.
Worse, if Corbett continues down this path he could make himself so toxic by November that multitudes of Republicans refuse to vote for him — and rather than vote for Wolf, skip Election Day entirely, depressing GOP turn out and turning normally safe districts into nail biters, and turning close elections into unexpected Democratic routs.
We might know as soon as next week how the governor’s race will turn out — if the final budget looks anything like the document that the House of Representatives passed, not only will Corbett be out, but Republican control over both houses of the state legislature could be in doubt.
You’ll know there’s blood in the water when GOP legislative candidates start to move to separate themselves from Corbett, call for a shale tax, more schools funding and so on. Will it be enough to save some seats? Maybe.
But unless we see a lot change in that budget document — and we’ve certainly seen drastic, last-minute revisions in the process in past years — Corbett could be touching off an electoral tsunami so big it takes everyone down with him, from state legislators to even one or congressional candidates previously seen as unbeatable.
C Walker should worry. Voters don’t want another pro birth right winger I there deciding what freedoms we should now have. His bio is long in political positions…we don’t need another lawyer or politician in there. GO SUSAN! She is real!
Remove elected legislators from boondoggle bankrupt pension. Put them in 457 plan. Legislators like Duane Milne have blocked pension reform for years to keep bankruptcy screwing citizens and hurting schools. Milne collects two taxpayer salaries simultaneously (state rep & state paid university) and is two bankruptcy taxpayers pensions.
Time to represent citizens and students instead of Milne cashing two pockets while serving as pro-lackey union.
http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2014/06/elected_officials-only_pension.html#incart_related_stories
http://m.lancasteronline.com/news/pennsylvania/pension-bill-for-elected-officials-advances/article_e2c51c2d-a6e8-5910-be6f-2c28bdf9b405.html?mode=jqm
County Controller & Willistown GOP Area Chairman Norman Macqueen is also ally and friend with union lobbyist Alex Rahn who gave big money to Democrats
and Rahn ran campaigns against Republicans in Great Valley School District committee seats. Too many coincidences.
Worthy info
In fact, Senator Scarnati has raised an excellent point recently regarding pension reform for legislators.
“If no other pension reform gets done before lawmakers break for the summer, the highest-ranking state
senator is calling for the Legislature to at the very least act to move all elected officials in the legislative, executive and judicial branch out of the state’s defined benefit pension plan…
Everybody believes we are the pension problem, so let’s take ourselves out of it. Then we’ll see what the real pension problem is,” Scarnati said….”
http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2014/06/sen_joe_scarnati_determined_to.html#incart_river
The liquor monopoly with all those employees are swelling the pension the deficit of under funding pension while the state only earning $80 million if anything. Liquor monopoly may in fact lose money after pension.
$311.24 million (61%) in liquor taxes;
$121.09 million (24%) in sales tax; and
while only $80 million (15%) transfer to the General Fund.
per http://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyphillipserb/2014/05/04/union-privatizing-the-sale-of-alcohol-will-kill-children-lower-tax-revenue/
More on liquor from Nick Ryan
http://keystonereport.com/random/Simple%20and%20Easy%20Liquor%20Privatization2.pdf
A Simple and Easy Answer to the Budget Crisis: Liquor Privatization By Nick Ryan Ronald Reagan once said that “there are simple answers – they just are not easy ones.” But every now and then in politics, simple answers emerge that are also easy. And one such instance is surfacing right here, right now in Pennsylvania. In case you missed it, the Keystone State is in the throes of a budget crisis –more than a billion dollars in the hole. Unfortunately, the solution being offered by too many of our politicians, including, unfortunately, some Republican leaders, is more tax hikes. In fact, according to one news outlet, the Senate Majority Leader has suggested that there are “20 to 30 ‘potential revenue-generating ideas, including a natural gas extraction tax” that could be considered to break the logjam over the deficit. But there’s an instant win-win-win solution for Pennsylvania taxpayers that would not only take a potentially huge bite out of the budget gap – with no new taxes – but also help get rid of a government agency embroiled in an ethics scandal, while increasing choice and convenience and reducing costs for consumers and creating new jobs. What is this no-brainer action the Legislature could take to painlessly alleviate a big portion of the deficit? Very simply: get the government out of the liquor business. It’s been suggested that the liquor privatization bill proposed by the Governor, passed by the House more than a year ago, but stuck in the Senate could generate $1 billion in revenue through licensing fees. Not to mention produce savings of the millions of dollars a year by which the corrupt and wildly inefficient Liquor Control Board inexplicably manages to outspend its revenues from alcohol sales. It’s incomprehensible that the logic of a step this straightforward and potentially beneficial to the public continues to elude so many of our stubbornly clueless elected officials. Just last week, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette decried “the outmoded thinking, the noncompetitiveness and the slowness to innovate” of the current system and urged the Legislature to “follow the votes” and satisfy the public’s demand for full privatization. Why is it so hard for many Senate Republicans to accept this simple and easy answer to reducing the deficit? Because the real difficulty for politicians of all Obtained by KeystoneReport.com
parties is weaning themselves off special-interest money – in particular, campaign gifts from favored distributors and union bosses who benefit from the Prohibition-era setup that continues to inconvenience Pennsylvania consumers and send many of them over the border for liquor purchases that should be helping lower our fiscal shortfall. Voters have had enough of politicians who posture as conservatives when running for office but mysteriously morph into patrons of Big Government the minute they arrive on the banks of the Susquehanna. It’s time for voters to send a simple and easy-to-understand answer to legislators who prefer new and higher taxes to a measure that will actually improve our lives even as it brightens our fiscal outlook: get rid of the eight-decade-old government liquor monopoly – or we will get rid of you this November.
————
Nick Ryan is chairman of American Future Fund Political Action, a nationally known conservative group that has been active in Pennsylvania promoting free-market and conservative ideals. Obtained by KeystoneReport.com
Milne blocks pension reform and pushes big raises to unions getting union PSEA teacher endorsement union for himself. Milne refuses to represent citizens. Milne answers only as pro-union lackey. Schools are hurt and liquor union monopoly bankrupts state budget through liquor pension deficits. Liquor monopoly needs privatization. Monopoly loses state money. Privatization would earn license fees balance at least the half this year on budget and school needs.Milne is buddy with Philadelphia union lobby which puts Philadelphia ahead for school money for Philadelphia screwing T/E & Great Valley. Milne had the lobbyist try defeat committee people in Great Valley & T/E with union lobbyist.Milne lobbyist buddy family also donated almost $10, 000 to big PA & NJ Democrat candidates (records on the websites to see for the public)
See link on Milne on PSEA union connection and blocking pension fix at
http://www.commonwealthfoundation.org/policyblog/detail/think-government-union-dues-arent-used-for-politics-think-again
Duane Milne should be defeated. He double dips by working two taxpayer paid taxpayer jobs state rep & west chester university and is in two taxpayer paid pensions.. State taxpayer budget is in trouble because Milne pockets both pockets. Milne blocks pension reform because he wants to pocket cash. Milne hurts students, classrooms, taxpayers, & jacks parents activity fees screwing education and raises classroom sizes to keep pension fix blocked. Milne is the problem.
See link on Milne block in next post
Duane Milne is a bad legislator and a worse college teacher. Notice I did not say professor, because he is so deficient. Here is his rating by the students:
http://www.ratemyprofessors.com/ShowRatings.jsp?tid=788527
It would be funny if he weren’t boring a generation of tax payer and parent -subsidized students.
He is collecting a pension for this as well as being a “Legislator” again in the loosest sense, because his attendance is poor, his leadership is non-existent and he does not have the respect of his peers. Duane is a dull man with a lack of courage and conviction. Dump Duane !!