Newspaper: Another budget fiasco looms in 2010

If you thought the 101-day-old budget stalemate was bad for Pennsylvania, just wait until next year, warns The Philadelphia Inquirer, which says unless reforms are enacted now, the state will end up with another budget fiasco in 2010.

From the editorial:

It was the seventh consecutive late budget under Rendell, and the outlook for next year isn't any better. Not only does the weak economy threaten to hold down tax collections, but 2010 also is an election year for most of the legislature. The Republican-led Senate will be even less motivated to compromise with a lame-duck governor.

But there are steps the legislature should take to prevent another such embarrassment. Some of them were outlined at a forum last week in State College with representatives of good-government groups Common Cause/PA, DemocracyRising/PA, and the League of Women Voters.

For example, there should be firm deadlines for the House and Senate approving a budget, and financial penalties on legislators who fail to meet those deadlines. If there's no budget by July 1, all members of the legislature, the governor, and cabinet secretaries would forfeit their salaries.

The governor presents his budget in February, but too often the House and Senate leaders of both parties delay real budget work until May or even June. Also, holding public hearings early on the largest parts of the governor's proposal, such as education and public safety, would give more momentum to the process and involve more legislators sooner.

The governor and legislators shouldn't be paid while a budget impasse drags on. They weren't paid this summer when the deadlock began, but legislators were able to collect paychecks after Rendell signed a partial "bridge" budget in August to pay state workers.

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