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Our View: Cautious optimism for Wolf’s budget plan

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; Luzerne County&#8217;s state legislators were pleased that Gov. Tom Wolf did not call for any new taxes in his 2019-20 budget address and they welcomed the plan for more funding for education.</p><p>On Tuesday, Wolf addressed a join session of the Legislature, seeking hundreds of millions of dollars more for schools, as well as money for new voting machines and programs to improve workforce training and the agricultural sector.</p><p>Wolf said the most significant element of the $34.1 billion budget plan is its efforts to help Pennsylvanians compete in a changing economy by bolstering skills and education.</p><p>State Sen. John Yudichak, D-Nanticoke, said Wolf celebrated Pennsylvania&#8217;s strong economic growth as a central factor to the fiscal health of the Commonwealth and the essential driving force behind growing prosperity for millions of Pennsylvanians.</p><p>&#8220;I applaud Gov. Wolf&#8217;s call for continued investments in education and workforce development training that will further fuel the job growth, economic development and fiscal responsibility in Pennsylvania,&#8221; Yudichak said. &#8220;Northeastern Pennsylvania is leading the way in job creation with over 4,000 new jobs created in the South Valley in just the last two years &#8212; jobs that empower families and improve communities.&#8221;</p><p>Wolf faces a Republican-controlled Legislature as he seeks to get approval for his budget, while awaiting reaction to his plan to enact a severance tax on the natural gas industry.</p><p>Last week, Wolf was in Wilkes-Barre to outline his plan to re-build critical infrastructure across the state.</p><p>Called &#8220;Restore Pennsylvania,&#8221; the governor&#8217;s plan would be funded by a still-to-be enacted severance tax on the natural gas industry. Although the governor claims to have bipartisan support, Republican leadership in the Legislature has questioned the plan.</p><p>Wolf said the severance tax would generate $300 million per year that he would use to pay down about $4.5 billion in bonds. Wolf, who noted Pennsylvania is the only gas-producing state without a severance tax, said the funding would be used to prevent flooding, eliminate blight, and expand broadband to all Pennsylvanians.</p><p>When asked what alternatives would be considered if lawmakers fail to approve the severance tax, Wolf said, &#8220;I don&#8217;t know. Three&#8217;s nowhere else to get that amount of funding.&#8221;</p><p>Sen. Lisa Baker, R-Lehman Township, said there is general agreement on the governor&#8217;s goals for education, health care, and infrastructure, but the manner in which he proposes to pay for them is certain to be the subject of further discussion.</p><p>&#8220;There will also be debate on the overall spending level,&#8221; Baker said. &#8220;Having come off a succession of difficult state budgets that required filling sizable deficits, there is an understandable reluctance among legislators to increase spending too much. There is substantial interest in trading off new spending for cuts in existing spending where results are lacking or the needs have diminished.</p><p>Baker said the continuing concentration on workforce development and career preparation has a lot of support and is a sensible and productive approach.</p><p>&#8220;I was also pleased to see the governor give recognition to Misericordia University&#8217;s Women With Children program as a model to support and replicate across Pennsylvania,&#8221; Baker said.</p><p>Here&#8217;s what our local legislators had to say about the governor&#8217;s budget proposal:</p><p>&#8226; Rep. Mike Carroll, D-Avoca &#8212; &#8220;As in years past, the governor&#8217;s address presents an outline for his budget and policy priorities for the coming year. His vision, which in many ways aligns with mine, demands consideration of a series of ideas that have remained in dry dock for too long.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m eager to debate the need to advance support for public education, raise the minimum wage and modernize elections among other priorities. I&#8217;m hopeful the bills enacted in the coming months reflect the need to move us forward.&#8221;</p><p>&#8226; Rep. Gerald Mullery, D-Newport Township &#8212; &#8220;I&#8217;m pleased to hear Gov. Wolf continues to advocate for greater investments into workforce development, particularly the formation of the Keystone Economic Development and Workforce Command Center. The Center will work to bring multiple state agencies and critical external partners together to direct resources needed to address Pennsylvania&#8217;s workforce shortage.</p><p>&#8220;Property taxes remain the most pressing issue for the people of my district and throughout Northeastern Pennsylvania. I was disappointed Gov. Wolf failed to discuss this issue in his address, and I will continue to advocate for school property tax elimination.&#8221;</p><p>&#8226; Rep. Tarah Toohil, R-Butler Township &#8212; &#8220;The governor stated that he was not proposing to raise any new taxes. This statement received resounding applause from both sides of the chamber. I was surprised at the conservative tone of the speech.</p><p>&#8220;I was pleased to hear that the governor wants to improve education access for younger children. I completely agree that the state should mandate that children begin kindergarten at age 6 rather than at age 8. I agreed with raising the minimum age from 17 to 18 years old.</p><p>&#8220;There were not a lot of details about his minimum wage increase to $15 for entry level positions. I do believe that we need to increase the minimum wage but doubling it may jeopardize jobs and cripple small businesses.</p><p>&#8226; Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski, D-Wilkes-Barre &#8212; &#8220;The governor stressed unity and promoted bipartisanship for the betterment of the people of PA. He focused on workforce development to move PA as the leading state in the country by creating excellent training programs to prepare our PA students for the 21st century jobs.</p><p>&#8220;The governor also emphasized the importance of education and presented several programs to prepare pre-K children before they enter school so they can be successful in school.&#8221;</p><p>&#8226; Rep. Aaron Kaufer, R-Kingston &#8212; &#8220;I am glad the governor has proposed a budget that does not require any new taxes, and also that he has renewed his pledge to get people back to work through improved workforce development programs. I am hopeful that this initiative will provide family-sustaining jobs that will strengthen our middle class and continue to grow our economy.&#8221;</p><p>&#8226; State Rep. Karen Boback, R-Harveys Lake, called the governor&#8217;s budget address &#8220;ambitious.&#8221; She said there is a lot to like about what Wolf is proposing to accomplish, particularly in the area of workforce development.</p><p>&#8220;While the rate of unemployment is low, we are anticipating a wave of job openings in the trades and need to do all we can to prepare workers to fill those vacancies,&#8221; Boback said.</p><p>Like Baker, Boback said she appreciated Wolf&#8217;s recognition of her alma mater, Misericordia University, for the &#8220;Women with Children&#8221; program.</p><p>&#8220;Education provides a key to combating so many of society&#8217;s ills,&#8221; Boback said. &#8220;Rather than rely on school property taxes, however, I feel it is incumbent upon us as a commonwealth to provide sufficient funding.</p><style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_Sen.-Lisa-Baker.cmyk_-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Baker </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_Sen.-Lisa-Baker.cmyk_-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Baker </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_Mike-Carroll-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Carroll </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_Mike-Carroll-1.jpg</photo1><caption1>Carroll </caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_Gerald-Mullery-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Mullery </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_Gerald-Mullery-1.jpg</photo2><caption2>Mullery </caption2><photoCredit2></photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_Tarah-Toohil-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Toohil </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_Tarah-Toohil-1.jpg</photo3><caption3>Toohil </caption3><photoCredit3></photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_Pashinski-cmyk-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Pashinski </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_Pashinski-cmyk-1.jpg</photo4><caption4>Pashinski </caption4><photoCredit4></photoCredit4></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_Kaufer_Aaron_mug_toned-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Kaufer </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo5>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_Kaufer_Aaron_mug_toned-1.jpg</photo5><caption5>Kaufer </caption5><photoCredit5></photoCredit5></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_Karen-Boback.cmyk_-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Boback </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo6>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_Karen-Boback.cmyk_-1.jpg</photo6><caption6>Boback </caption6><photoCredit6></photoCredit6></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_Yudichak-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Yudichak </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo7>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_Yudichak-1.jpg</photo7><caption7>Yudichak </caption7><photoCredit7></photoCredit7></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>

Local legislators like no taxes, more education funding from Wolf