The George Report
Skewering a budget sausage by a dam site
By state Rep. Camille "Bud" George, D-74 of Clearfield County
As I write this from Harrisburg, the Legislation remains embroiled in budget negotiations over the weekend. Some say we’ll have a state budget by the time this hits the streets for the July 4th holiday.
A budget agreement was announced at 1:15 Monday morning, but the numbers still need to be crunched. Early information was skimpy, but it appears local school districts will be assured at least 3 percent increases in their basic education subsidies -- double what was initially proposed.
A constituent inquired last week about how the budget is formulated. I don’t think anyone could compile all the nods, winks and deals that go into a budget. I was tempted just to reply with a recipe for a sausage that has a little bit of everything in it but satisfies no one.
Consider the dozens of letters I’ve received from people living in northeastern Pennsylvania. Because of new rules, the dams their private homeowners’ associations own are now are considered unsafe, and the private communities are facing mandates to upgrade the dams.
The homeowners want state help to make the upgrades. They promote a bill that would have the state float a bond to set up a revolving loan fund that they could tap to pay for the repairs.
Fair enough. I have no philosophical opposition to the program. I figure that if the Federal Reserve can ante up billions of dollars to bail out financial behemoth Bear Stearns, Pennsylvania can pony up the money for a dam-loan fund.
While the state is facing a multi-million-dollar tab fixing the dams it owns, I’m unsure that using a private-versus-public argument is valid. The South Fork Dam was owned by wealthy industrialists. Its collapse in 1889 – killing 2,209 men, women, and children – devastated the Johnstown region.
Would anyone argue that government doesn’t have a role in making sure such tragedies are not repeated? And, if a community is financially unable to upgrade a dam – certainly not the case with the South Fork Dam’s owners of 1899 – then why shouldn’t government offer a modest loan fund that would protect communities?
Now, here’s the kicker. The two lead sponsors of the loan-fund legislation take special pains to rip Gov. Rendell on his budget proposals. One of the two Pocono-area lawmakers writes, "Reckless borrowing means future generations will be footing the bill for the pet projects that the governor and House Democrats refuse to live without today."
The second lawmaker – a gentleman I respect and admire – blasts the Rendell administration budget as "more government spending, more borrowing and debt service, more new government programs, and more taxes." He later lambastes the governor for wanting "millions in new borrowing for dam repairs…"
Then, the two lawmakers turn around and propose a program calling for a new government program for dam repairs, more state borrowing and more debt service!
For the record, no new taxes are proposed or even being considered for the 2008-09 state budget. There’s also at least $730 million in the Rainy Day fund, and a budget surplus of $159 million.
I heard conservative commentator George Will say that political parties exist to organize our hostilities. During the budget season, lawmakers eventually must try to put aside their hostilities and do what is best for the common good, the Commonwealth.
Obviously, it’s not easy, especially in a state as diverse as Pennsylvania. The political diatribe must run its course, even by a dam site, before we can get to the budget sausage.
Meanwhile, everyone keeps hungering for steak.
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