Jul 7, 2017 4 min read

There’s an old saying that two things you don’t want to see made are sausage and laws. That might well apply to current efforts in Harrisburg to complete work on a new state budget.

Last week, lawmakers approved a $32 billion spending plan for the fiscal year that began June 30, but that’s all it really is, a plan to spend money. As for generating money, well, that’s a whole different ballgame, and it’s one that is dragging into extra innings.

As of this writing, a select group of legislative leaders was attempting to hammer out exactly how best to find $2.2 billion in new revenue to pay for a $234 million shortfall from the 2016-17 budget year and to plug all the gaps in the new spending proposal. How they’re going to accomplish that is anyone’s guess, because of course all of this horse-trading between House and Senate leaders is going on behind closed doors.

What we know at this point comes largely from an Associated Press story Wednesday that indicated the process is moving forward, but the details remain sketchy.

The AP, quoting Senate President Joe Scarnati, reported a deal is near on an expansion of casino-style gambling in the state. Scarnati would not say what is in the gambling legislation, but it appears a major point of contention – placing slot machine-type gambling terminals in thousands of bars and truck stops across the commonwealth – might have been excised from the plan. That would be a bit of good news, because the last thing the state needs is a difficult-to-police explosion in the number of gambling outlets that no doubt would separate a lot of cash from problem gamblers, not to mention the families of those gambling addicts. Such a move also would drain money away from the state lottery and from the casinos around the state, including our own Meadows Casino.

According to the AP, legislative leaders also are negotiating how to raise more money through further privatization of alcoholic beverage sales. The report said one approach is to sell more wine and liquor licenses to private enterprises, while another proposal would shift taxes on alcohol sales from the wholesale level to the retail level, which would cost consumers an estimated $200 million to $300 million a year. We’re hoping the first idea is the one that wins support. Anything that takes another step or two toward getting the state entirely out of the business of selling alcohol is a plus. We are concerned, however, Gov. Tom Wolf has shown an inclination to be beholden to the union representing workers in the state stores.

We suppose there’s a chance lawmakers also will take another punch at the state’s smokers, since raising cigarette taxes always seems to be one of their fallback positions.

One other proposal that seems to have gained traction is borrowing money to paper over the state’s past and current fiscal shortfalls. The AP said top Republicans are considering borrowing as much as $1.5 billion “against future revenues from Pennsylvania’s share of a landmark 1998 multistate settlement with tobacco companies.” Never mind that was most certainly NOT among the intended uses of the settlement funds. Nor is it good fiscal policy to borrow money to plug budget gaps. What it does do is allow lawmakers to dodge their responsiblities and avoid raising taxes or making potentially painful cuts in spending.

By the time you read this, the legislative leaders might have completed their work and summoned rank-and-file lawmakers to Harrisburg to put a rubber stamp on their work. That’s the first time we, and most of the lawmakers, will actually get to see the details.