New Castle News

Editorials

July 1, 2009

EDITORIAL: Hapless Harrisburg

The average Pennsylvanian may not notice, but the commonwealth has lost the ability to spend money.

While that may elicit cheers from certain sectors, the lack of a state budget does have consequences.

Of course, the situation is hardly new. This is the seventh straight year Pennsylvania has failed to meet the June 30 deadline to craft a spending plan for the coming year. All of them have been during the administration of Gov. Ed Rendell.

We suppose it’s no surprise the trend continued this year. After all, the current world economic crisis has stressed the commonwealth’s finances, requiring tough decisions in terms of taxes and spending. If the state can’t come up with a timely budget during reasonably good economic times, what chance did it have now?

But we find ourselves wondering how seriously Harrisburg’s leadership approached this matter. Publicly, precious little has happened in terms of the budget.

While Rendell has crafted multiple rounds of cuts over the course of the year — in an effort to stem the tide of red ink — Pennsylvania is still looking at a budget deficit of around $3 billion.

And it wasn’t until June 16 that Rendell got around to proposing a 16 percent increase in the state’s personal income tax, from 3.07 to 3.57 percent. Is that really when he came up with the idea?

Yesterday Rendell advised Pennsylvanians not to expect a new budget soon, as he and legislative leaders hold discussions. But the governor and lawmakers are just now going through the budget line by line. Isn’t it a little late in the game to be doing that?

Meanwhile, nothing much has happened with the budget in the Legislature. The Republican-controlled Senate passed a no-tax budget that was more show than substance. House Democrats haven’t done even that.

In a sense, the lack of timely action on the budget, year after year, symbolizes the quality of leadership in Harrisburg. A disciplined, accountable operation wouldn’t allow this to happen.

And these are the guys who — a few years ago — thought they were deserving of a big pay raise on top of their regular cost-of-living increases.

The most immediate impact from Pennsylvania’s missing budget will be state employees who continue working, yet will receive no paychecks. The low-interest loans Harrisburg is helping to arrange for these employees won’t be quite the same thing.

And, as the budget delay drags on, the pain could be felt elsewhere — as state aid to municipalities dries up. Even private businesses may be impacted, if they are in the practice of selling goods and services to a government that can no longer pay its bills.

Eventually, some sort of compromise will be reached and Pennsylvania will have a new budget. We hope the people of the commonwealth remember that serious budget discussions weeks and months ago would have produced a timely spending plan.

Text Only | Photo Reprints
Editorials
  • High court forces lawmakers back to drawing board

    The Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s decision to throw out a legislative redistricting plan exposes a fundamental truth: The mapping of House and Senate districts in the commonwealth have nothing to do with representation or serving the people.

    February 9, 2012

  • parking_meter.jpg Our Opinion: City hurts businesses by ticketing during lunch hours

    Most of the candidates running (and now elected) for New Castle City Council and mayor last year said they believed downtown redevelopment was important. This was a common theme during editorial board meetings at the New Castle News prior to last spring’s primary and before the general election.

    February 8, 2012 1 Photo

  • Citizens offer to take open seat on New Castle City Council

    It’s good to see there is so much interest in serving on New Castle City Council. On Tuesday, council interviewed nine citizens who have expressed a desire to fill an existing vacancy. The only unfortunate part is that most of these people weren’t interested in the post last year, when it was on the ballot.

    February 3, 2012

  • Second thoughts

    County commissioner decides to take charge of prison board

    February 2, 2012

  • Mastrangelo.jpg Our Opinion, Part 2: Mayor’s hiring of his son raises more serious questions

    If you ask New Castle residents to identify the biggest problem in local government, one word will stand out:
    Nepotism. The term, of course, refers to the hiring of one’s relatives for positions, regardless of the fact others are equally — or more — deserving of available positions.

    February 1, 2012 1 Photo 1 Story

  • Sansone.jpg Our Opinion: Why didn’t council keep Chief Tom Sansone?

    Last week, a majority on city council refused to confirm Mayor Anthony Mastrangelo’s appointment of Tom Sansone to continue as police chief. For the moment, the city has no police chief, and city residents are left to wonder why.

    January 31, 2012 4 Photos

  • Writers reveal ignorance of school board politics

    Editor, The News: In a recent edition of The News there was a letter by James Smith that caught my attention.

    January 27, 2012

  • Fairness is consideration in Jameson Hospital’s request to city

    Jameson Hospital wants New Castle to give it a break. And it’s something city council should consider — if doing so makes sense, and if it is fair to all.

    January 27, 2012

  • Proposal to cut size of Legislature moves modestly ahead

    Efforts to streamline Pennsylvania’s Legislature took a step forward this week. But plenty of additional steps remain in what promises to be a daunting process.

    January 26, 2012

  • Violence flares in Mideast nation as American troops depart

    It doesn’t always make headlines in America, but violence is a regular occurrence in Iraq. Yesterday, car bombings in Baghdad killed 14 people and wounded 75 others. In the United States, such bloodshed would be a major event. In Iraq, it’s just more of the same.

    January 25, 2012

House Ads
Seasonal Content
Section Teases
Community Calendar
Loading…
Events by eviesays.com
Community News Network