“We have $2.3 billion in red ink this year and there’s more to come next year. This is something no Band-Aid can fix.” (Gov. Ed Rendell, Wilkes Barre Times Leader, Jan. 29, 2009)

 

“I think everyone has to tighten the belts.” (Gov. Ed Rendell, Associated Press, Jan. 29, 2009)

 

I was encouraged by these comments from Gov. Ed Rendell in the days leading up to his budget address. I was hopeful that the governor recognized the serious nature of Pennsylvania’s budget problems and would offer a budget proposal that reflected the depth of the challenges we face.

 

Unfortunately, the governor’s budget address and the proposal he submitted made it very clear that his tough talk about the budget was just that – talk. Despite all of his calls for shared sacrifice and universal belt tightening, the plan the governor offered is a typical Rendell budget. After reviewing the proposal he submitted, it is very clear to me that the governor either does not understand or does not care about the financial crisis we are confronting.

 

Pennsylvania is facing a budget shortfall that could easily top $3 billion. In other words, we are on track to spend $3 billion more than we have. Despite that sobering fact, the governor wants to increase spending by $1.2 billion. 

 

Pennsylvania is already more than $9 billion in debt. Each year, we must pay $1 billion in debt service. To propose more spending when we are already in debt and do not have the funds to pay for existing programs is misguided and unacceptable. The governor should respond to this fiscal crisis by freezing state spending at current levels and making significant cuts in those programs which are not serving their intended purpose.

 

To pay for his spending spree, the governor has proposed hundreds of millions of dollars in new taxes on Pennsylvania’s families and businesses. In addition, he is counting on $3.5 billion in stimulus funds from the federal government. It is irresponsible to rely on one-time funding sources to cover state spending. Once that money is spent, it will be gone forever, and we will be left with the long-term structural budget deficiencies that brought us to our current situation. Instead of using the federal stimulus funds as a one-time band-aid to cover more state spending on programs which are not working, those funds should be invested in items which will stimulate our economy and create new jobs.

 

Equally troubling to me is the governor’s plan to expand gambling in Pennsylvania through the legalization of video poker machines. Since the inception of slot machine gaming in Pennsylvania, we have seen many serious problems with the licensing and oversight of casinos. In addition, slot machines have fallen well short of the promises that accompanied their legalization. Given those facts, I am stunned that the governor would seriously consider any expansion of gambling.

 

We are not going to get out of our current financial hole with one-time funding sources, tax increases and legalized gambling schemes. And we are certainly not going to get there by increasing our spending by more than $1 billion. 

 

We need to right-size state government. That means making some tough decisions about which programs are working properly and which are not and then cutting spending appropriately. Thousands of families across Pennsylvania make those kinds of tough decisions every day, and they expect us to do the same. Anything less would be a disservice to the people who elected us.