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Dallas School District accepting registrations

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Reporter trades notepad for weapon to help police train at Pittston Area Middle School

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; The ink on Gov. Tom Wolf&#8217;s veto of the proposed Republican 2015-16 budget is barely dry. Yet it has become clear that the budget fight in Harrisburg not only won&#8217;t be over soon, it&#8217;s going to be a real battle.</p><p>Passage of a spending plan has become the vehicle for this latest war between Republicans and Democrats. But this time the governor wears blue, not red. And with that comes resistance and persistence that may just end up with compromise and bipartisanship.</p><p>Or what will be left will be a bloody battlefield with scars that may never heal, at least not for the next four years.</p><p>Earlier this week, Wolf&#8217;s Press Secretary Jeff Sheridan sent out an email that revealed a lot about the state of the state budget. In a word, it&#8217;s nowhere.</p><p>The first line of Sheridan&#8217;s email went: &#8220;The refusal by Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman and Republican leaders to accept basic math and acknowledge Pennsylvania&#8217;s massive structural budget deficit is the sole obstacle preventing budget talks from moving forward.&#8221;</p><p>The email goes on to call Corman out on comments he made recently about the budget impasse, comments he also made in the past when Republican Tom Corbett was governor.</p><p><strong>Education funding</strong></p><p>The impasse is approaching two weeks and Sheridan&#8217;s email noted that &#8220;Pennsylvania has a significant structural budget deficit that needs to be addressed.&#8221; He said drastic cuts made to state education funding &#8212; cuts, Sheridan said, made by Corman and Republicans &#8212; need to be restored.</p><p>Sheridan said the Republican budget crafted by Corman and his Republican colleagues &#8220;is not balanced and would lead to a $3 billion budget deficit, while doing nothing for public education.&#8221;</p><p>The entire tone of Sheridan&#8217;s email gives a clear indication that this battle is far from over. Just how long it will last, nobody really knows, given the reluctance of either side for significant compromise.</p><p>&#8220;It is time for Sen. Corman and the Republican leaders to stop ignoring basic math and to stop pretending that their same gimmicks, irresponsible budgeting, and gaping deficits will help move Pennsylvania forward,&#8221; Sheridan said in his email.</p><p>In an Associated Press story Friday, Wolf said that he would listen to ways to wipe out a long-term deficit and increase education aid without raising sales or income taxes, but he also insisted that the deficit be addressed honestly and without what he calls &#8220;smoke and mirrors.&#8221;</p><p>The first-year governor said he is not sure how the state could adequately fund education without raising the personal income and sales taxes, but he said he was willing to listen to ideas on how to do that.</p><p>The Republican $30.2 billion budget has no new taxes. Wolf vetoed the entire budget. Wolf also vetoed the Republican-backed liquor privatization bill and the pension reform bill.</p><p>Wolf said he is willing to talk, but no talks are scheduled.</p><p>Wolf&#8217;s $31.6 billion budget proposal is aimed at resolving the state&#8217;s deficit, increasing funding to education by $800 million, while increasing the personal income and sales taxes and enacting a 5 percent severance tax on the Marcellus shale industry. He also wants to lower corporate taxes and property taxes.</p><p>Corman recently told the Philadelphia Inquirer, &#8220;I don&#8217;t want to give any sort of illusion that we&#8217;re getting closer or we&#8217;re having productive meetings.&#8221;</p><p><strong>Bills mounting</strong></p><p>So far the impact of the impasse has been minimal, but with each passing day, the situation worsens. Soon vendors will feel the pinch, as will agencies that depend on state funding. And then schools will be hit.</p><p>When the funding stream begins to dwindle, the voices will get louder.</p><p>There shouldn&#8217;t be any delay. Legislators and the governor should be meeting constantly to get a budget. Politics and special interests need to be left at the doorstep of the negotiations.</p><p>We need level heads, open minds and realistic compromise.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Bill O&#8217;Boyle </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/web1_Columnshot-1-2.jpg</photo0><caption0>Bill O&#8217;Boyle </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/web1_tomwolf06.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Gov. Tom Wolf </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/web1_tomwolf06.jpg</photo1><caption1>Gov. Tom Wolf </caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Bill O&#8217;Boyle</p><p>boboyle@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Bill O&#8217;Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

In Focus: Negotiating — not political posturing — needed to keep state government operating