Hollow+victory+-+This+budget+could+have+cushioned+more+of+the+pain

=//Published in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette//= =//7/2/11//= = = = = =State lawmakers passed a budget by the June 30 deadline for the first time in nine years, but there's little else to celebrate in the $27.15 billion package.= =Certainly not for students in a state-owned university now facing a $116 hike in technology fees and a $436 tuition increase (a 7.5 percent jump) because the budget took an 18 percent bite out of funding for the 14 institutions.= =Certainly not for Pennsylvanians worried about state parks and forests, since funding for the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources took a 33 percent cut.= =Certainly not for the mentally and physically disabled Pennsylvanians who will see fewer dollars available for services.= = And certainly not for parents, children and taxpayers in school districts where staff members are being laid off, programs are being eliminated and, in many cases, property taxes are going up. Lawmakers revised the way education funds are allocated, but not in a way that helps the state's poorest districts, and they made it harder for districts to raise taxes higher than the rate of inflation. = =The biggest winners in the budget process -- to no one's great surprise -- are gas drillers doing business in the state. The public is wholeheartedly in favor of imposing some sort of extraction tax or fees on the corporations that will benefit from Marcellus Shale natural gas deposits deep under Pennsylvania, and even House Republicans were willing to tackle the issue as the budget talks reached their climax.= =But Gov. Tom Corbett shot down any moves in that direction Tuesday with a sharp statement saying he would veto any fee that hit his desk. So that effort was separated from budget talks and scuttled at least until fall.= =Yes, Mr. Corbett did just what he said he'd do -- he closed a $4 billion deficit without raising taxes. But he stubbornly stuck to the arbitrary budget cap he set in March, when the state was expecting a shortfall in revenue.= =The reality is that tax collections for the fiscal year exceeded estimates by more than $750 million. The Legislature added $200 million of it to the General Fund budget, but the rest will go untapped, set aside for future, unspecified purposes. Pennsylvania could have eased some of the pain associated with this frugal budget and still retained a cushion.= =Instead, the best thing that can be said about the 2011-12 budget is that the Legislature and Gov. Corbett turned their work in on time. That's good, but not good enough.= = Read more: [] = = = =News= =home=