Jan 14, 2016 4 min read

We’ve become accustomed to paying many millions of dollars for the rather princely salaries and benefits of our state lawmakers, only to see them do relatively little of substance to earn it. But for the past year, they’re outdone themselves in that regard – or perhaps “underdone” would be a better word.

Here we are, two weeks into 2016, and the state still does not have a full budget, despite it being due at the end of last June.

As most folks know, Gov. Tom Wolf signed off on part of the spending plan OK’d by the Legislature at the end of last year – $23.4 billion worth – to free up money for our schools and social service agencies, but he used his line-item veto power to excise other proposed spending.

Wolf wanted lawmakers to get back to Harrisburg and approve the budget proposal he agreed to with leaders of both houses of the Legislature but was scuttled in the state House. While one would not necessarily expect the Republicans who control the Legislature to take any marching orders from the Democratic governor, it’s certainly not unreasonable to expect they’d do something to finalize a complete budget as quickly as possible. That might seem like common sense to us, and to you, but the Legislature seems to feel little urgency to wrap things up, even as Wolf’s budget address for the next fiscal year looms.

One problem, from the perspective of the lawmakers, is the plan cobbled together by Wolf and the legislative leaders would require something the political class likes to call “revenue enhancement.” We regular folks call them tax increases. It’s a particular problem for the Legislature now because every one of the members of the state House and some state senators are up for re-election this year, and some apparently fear if they vote to increase the state income tax or the sales tax, voters will remove their feeding privileges at the public trough.

According to a recent Associated Press report, some in Harrisburg believe lawmakers will go into a defensive crouch and refuse to approve a budget – and any requisite tax increases – until after they face voters in the April 26 primary.

Democratic Rep. Nick Kotik of Allegheny County told the AP he could see that happening.

“Now with all the passage of time, I think it’s going to make it tough to get those Republican votes, and the fact that those identified as ‘yes’ votes (on the previous budget proposal) are going to be under pressure from Republicans not to vote ‘yes’ again,” Kotik said.

Some might suggest such a politically based avoidance of duty – the only absolute duty of the Legislature – amounts to cowardice, and to putting personal interests above the good of the commonwealth and its citizens. They would be correct.

For his part, Senate President Joe Scarnati, R-Jefferson County, said there will be no approval of the deal agreed to by Wolf and the legislative leadership unless he gets passage of public pension reform, which died in the House late last year.

“Could it go into April or May? Look, I think the divide has gone so deep over raising taxes that for us, for Republicans, raising broad-based taxes and getting absolutely nothing is the equivalent of insanity,” said Scarnati.

We get that, because it’s our thought that paying these legislators upward of $85,000 a year, along with Cadillac fringe benefits, and getting absolutely nothing from them seems fairly insane.

Lawmakers may fear voting for a tax increase might doom them with voters in April. They’d better hope voters don’t take a close look at what they’re already getting for their tax dollars in Harrisburg, and act accordingly.