June 1st, 2009

Philadelphia Daily News’ political columnist John Baer writes this week that it looks dismal that the state budget will get passed on time, and without some sort of tax increase to go with it.  He also believes that Mayor Nutter will have his request met to raise Philadelphia’s sales tax from 7% to 8% to deal with the city’s budget deficit.

Lines are drawn: If you rely on state services and Republicans prevail, prepare to perish; if you pay state taxes and Democrats win, prepare to pay even more. The gap portends a summer of listening to gasbags.

And taxes?

GOP leaders have said no, not even Ed’s proposed new taxes on tobacco and energy, and especially no expansion of general taxes on sales or income.

But now a personal-income-tax hike is floating around, and Corman (who doesn’t like the idea) tells me, “I’m not one who takes everything off the table.”

Meanwhile, Democrats say, “Oh, it’s only as a last resort,” which is code for “Grab your wallets, kids, a tax hike is coming.”

A 1 percent increase in the state’s 3.07 percent PIT – it was 2.8 percent when Ed took office – would bring in $3 billion.

(Maybe somewhere in the process, someone can explain: (a) how so many families go year after year without increased income – and sometimes less income – yet manage to make ends meet, while government spends more every year no matter what; and (b) if so many government programs do such good and needed work, why it seems that the needs never lessen.)

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Rendell proposed a $29 billion spending plan in February. It awaits House action. The Senate budget is $27 billion. Both are probably more than the state has to spend – which is why a tax hike is coming.

Oh, and because it’s easier than doing the work required to make cuts that don’t harm the truly needy, or selling off assets such as the anachronistic State Store system, or giving back hundreds of millions of dollars in legislative slush funds.

Plus, since lawmakers give themselves annual automatic pay raises large enough to cover a little PIT-hit, hey, why not?

I suppose it’s possible that both sides will agree soon to act in the best interests of the people and produce a budget combining minimal hurt to those reliant on state service and minimal hits to those funding such service.

Possible, that is, somewhere other than in the Land of Low Expectations.