A new fiscal budget did not make it out of the Legislature by the deadline Wednesday (is anyone surprised?), because there just isn't enough money coming in and there's too much going out. Our lawmakers are discussing several proposals that would take the state out of some other "businesses": the library business, the public television business, the park business and the museum business, to name a few.
There is no question that public TV and radio would be severely affected by losing state support, and that many libraries might be forced to close without the subsidies they've come to rely upon. This has been a steady source of income for many years. However, these are not vital services, they are not owned by the state and the state is not constitutionally bound to support them. Libraries and public TV have other sources of revenue and may have to rely solely on them.
But what of the state parks and museums? These are owned by the state, and there is the prospect that a suspension of state funding will mean their abandonment. Or will it?
Ryerson Station State Park in Greene County is not what it used to be when Duke Lake existed. Now, it consists of hiking trails and a swimming pool. But isn't it possible that these could be supported by county government, or even by private contribution?
The Bradford House has operated as a Pennsylvania Museum since its restoration. It is owned by the state, which pays for some of its upkeep. The state is anxious to jettison the Bradford House and several other sites, including the Fort Pitt and Bushy Run Battlefield museums. But it is highly unlikely that these places will lock their doors and slowly disintegrate because the regular flow of state money has been cut off. For the Bradford House, independence may be a good thing.
That museum is managed by the Bradford House Historical Association, a nonprofit organization of volunteers and two part-time employees, which raises most of the money to operate the museum, Washington's oldest building. Often, repairs to the house, improvements and plans for new attractions have been delayed for years or stymied altogether, lost in the red tape of Harrisburg. There is no question that if the state turns over the house to the association, it will have to raise much more money to operate the Bradford House, but it won't have to wait two years for approval to repair or replace gutters, for example; it will be able to make repairs immediately. And the plans for construction of an exterior log kitchen in the rear of the property can go forward without the excruciating delays insisted upon by state bureaucrats.
If our libraries are to remain in existence with reduced or no state funding, they will need more local support, from municipalities, school districts and private contributors. Our communities will have a greater sense of ownership of their libraries, as they did long ago, when they were first established and not yet subsidized by the state.
It may be difficult to free ourselves from our dependency on state money for so many things, but doing so may not be such a bad thing in the long run.