Newspaper: Same old failures continue in Harrisburg

Whether it was the 2005 middle-of-the-night pay raise or the current month-long budget impasse, nothing ever changes in Harrisburg, laments The Pottstown Mercury in a new editorial.

Despite all the talk of reform and promises to mend their ways, the Legislature may be more dysfunctional today than it was four years ago.

From the editorial:

Pennsylvania is now one of three states without a settled budget in place for the current fiscal year, and pressure for a deal is mounting from tens of thousands of state government employees who are dealing with tight household finances.

Back in 2005 when the pay raise became a poster child for change, many predicted the dawn of a new era in Harrisburg.

That era has not yet begun, and change has not materialized.

Sadly, the caricature of a legislator paying attention to the meaningless detail of designating a state reptile while larger problems loom is not exaggerated.

There were no lessons learned in 2005, no change in the way legislative business is conducted, and no progress for Pennsylvania.

The only change is that getting a budget plan takes even longer than it did before.

Read the full editorial at the newspaper's Web site.