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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; Visiting a King&#8217;s College classroom Tuesday, Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. Mike Stack made two predictions: The state will have a budget soon and it won&#8217;t involve taxing college student room and board payments.</p><p>&#8220;I think by next week we&#8217;ll have a budget,&#8221; Stack told 28 students in Political Theory and American Government. &#8220;I think most people will say that it was a rocky start, we got it done, and we&#8217;re on the right track.&#8221;</p><p>Harrisburg failed to pass a budget since Gov. Tom Wolf vetoed the legislature&#8217;s proposal June 30 and the local impact has grown acute. Luzerne County narrowly averted a shutdown when the county council agreed to borrow $20 million after initially rejecting the idea. Councilman Harry Haas said he voted no to &#8220;send a message&#8221; to Gov. Wolf.</p><p>Hazleton Area School Board rejected a proposal to borrow $31 million, with several board members similarly saying they wanted to send Harrisburg a message by risking closing schools. Northwest Area School Board President Randy Tomasacci has said that district will close Feb. 2 if state money does not begin to flow.</p><p>King&#8217;s senior James Nixon asked if the protracted budget battle is apt to replay in future years. Stack said the system for negotiations has changed for the worse.</p><p>&#8220;In the past, the governor could negotiate with legislative leaders,&#8221; said Stack, a 14-year state senator from Philadelphia. The leadership could typically guarantee a compromise would get enough votes to pass. &#8220;We don&#8217;t have that anymore.&#8221;</p><p>Now, lawmakers may not only reject a deal, they may threaten to support someone else in the next election to replace the person who negotiated the compromise.</p><p>&#8220;People put their self interest ahead of the greater good,&#8221; Stack said.</p><p>While the deal being hammered out isn&#8217;t exactly what Wolf wanted, Stack said it provides more money for education. &#8220;We&#8217;ve got to invest in young people.&#8221;</p><p>Nixon&#8217;s roommate Alcides Mauricio noted a proposed sales tax expansion could require students to pay taxes on room and board. &#8220;How is that helping us?&#8221;</p><p>Stack said it doesn&#8217;t, that he&#8217;s against it and that &#8220;I doubt it will make it into the budget.&#8221;</p><p>Dressed in double-buckle shoes and sporting a blue gingham print kerchief in his vest pocket, Stack chatted first about his family&#8217;s three generations of political involvement, his failed runs for state senate and a seat on the Philadelphia City Council, and his unexpected success running for his current post.</p><p>He tossed out folksy advice from lessons along the way:</p><p>&#8226; Try to keep on good terms with everybody, even those with whom you disagree. &#8220;If you want someone to help you, don&#8217;t expect them to be a mind reader. Go up and ask them.&#8221; If they say no, &#8220;there&#8217;s always another day, you shouldn&#8217;t blow up a relationship.&#8221;</p><p>&#8226; Practice &#8220;restraint of pen and tongue.&#8221; If you feel a need to respond critically to someone, &#8220;Give it 24 hours.&#8221;</p><p>&#8226; Giving speeches in the legislature that air on PCN TV may help you make a point, but don&#8217;t expect a lot of praise. &#8220;Gov. Wolf says &#8216;I saw you on PCN&#8217;, then he says &#8216;you need to get a life,&#8221; Stack said, adding with a laugh &#8220;My wife says that, too.&#8221;</p><p>&#8226; &#8220;You meet the best people that you&#8217;ll ever meet and you meet the worst people. And sometimes you meet the best people at their worse,&#8221; he said of elected office.&#8221;It&#8217;s a crash course in human nature and I would not trade it for anything.&#8221;</p><p>The King&#8217;s College stop was part of a two-day sweep through the region, including a stay-over in Pittston, Stack&#8217;s spokesman Gary Tuma said.</p><p>Visits included a popcorn manufacturer and a dairy farm looking to expand in East Stroudsburg, the Gino J. Merli Veterans&#8217; Center in Scranton, Junior Achievement of Northeastern Pennsylvania in Pittston and Children&#8217;s Service Center in Wilkes-Barre. After visiting King&#8217;s, Stack went to Montage Mountain and then to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre International Airport before returning to Harrisburg.</p><p>&#8220;It was more of a listening and learning tour,&#8221; Tuma said, &#8220;finding out about ways the state could be helpful. There wasn&#8217;t necessarily a specific agenda.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. Mike Stack talks with a students from two classes &#8212; Political Theory and American Government &#8212; Tuesday morning at King&#8217;s College. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_TTL120215ltgov.jpg</photo0><caption0>Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. Mike Stack talks with a students from two classes &#8212; Political Theory and American Government &#8212; Tuesday morning at King&#8217;s College. </caption0><photoCredit0>Clark Van Orden | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Mark Guydish</p><p>mguydish@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mark Guydish at 570-991-6112 or on Twitter @TLMarkGuydish</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Lt. Gov. Mike Stack at King’s College: State budget could come next week