Saying his plan to balance the budget is the fairest, Rendell admitted he is not happy about it and doesn’t blame Pennsylvanians who are also displeased. But he noted he and everyone in the state inherited the problem.
“It was caused by a couple of greedy Wall Street S.O.B.’s who put this nation at risk,” he said.
Lois Nimal of McDonald stopped Rendell after his talk to ask when the budget will be adopted. The state is entering its third week without a budget. Nimal’s daughter is a state police dispatcher and has not received a paycheck since June 30.
Rendell told her he expects the impasse will be over by the end of this month.
A mix-up over whether the governor’s visit was open to the public led to a shallow crowd.
Police officers from Mt. Pleasant Township were stationed at the entrance to the school to keep anyone not on a list from entering. Most of those on the list were school board members and other elected officials, one officer said.
But when Mike Smith, a spokesman for the governor’s office arrived, he told officers the meeting was an open one. By then, several people had left school grounds.
It was unclear who had drawn up the list or for what reason, but police at the school said there had been concern that government employees, who have not been paid, would attend and protest.
Speaking in the school library, Rendell said a game has been played for many years in Harrisburg. “It’s called ‘passing the buck,’” he said.
Under Gov. Dick Thornburgh, the state paid 51 percent of the cost of educating a student with another 7 percent aid from the federal government and the local share about 42 percent.
When Rendell took office, the state amount had been reduced to 34 percent, thus forcing local school districts to raise property taxes to make up the difference.
Noting that many of the programs he favors have had to be cut, Rendell said cuts alone will not balance the budget. He has proposed raising the state income tax from 3.07 percent to 3.57 percent.
For a family making $48,500 a year that would result in $4.50 a week increase. And, he noted that senior citizens, people making less than $32,000 a year and unemployed would not pay that increase.
However, any property tax increase will be paid by seniors and the unemployed.
Addressing educators in the room, Rendell noted the proposed Senate Bill 850 would cut $1 billion from education at a time when funds for tutoring and full-day kindergarten have given students a quality education.
“We’ve come so far, why would we turn back now?” he asked.
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