DN editorial: Pennsylvania budget deal offers only short-term solutions

THE AGREEMENT on the $31.5 billion state budget nearly met the July 1 deadline, nine months earlier than last year. That must come as a tremendous relief to school districts and local governments across the state that had to go through 2015 without regular payments of state aid.

Now, they know what they are getting from the state and can plan accordingly. The Philadelphia School District, for instance, will get about $50 million in new money, which it had already penciled in to its budget for the 2016-17 school year.

Passage of the budget and the tax package also restores some of the luster to the political reputations of Gov. Wolf and the Republican-controlled Legislature.

Wolf came to the state capital with an ambitious agenda that included major new spending and tax proposals. He not only failed to persuade the Legislature to meet him halfway, he alienated the Republican leadership by constantly sniping at them.

This year, the Democratic governor made it clear he would be happy with half-a-loaf, and that's exactly what he got: $200 million more for the public schools, $15 million for a new program to combat opiate abuse, some new taxes to help pay for these initiatives.

In all, the budget calls for state government to spend an additional $1.4 billion this year, an increase of just under 5 percent.

A strong governor is good for the state and certainly good for Philadelphia. For a while, it looked as if Wolf was about to become a lame duck before his time. Getting this deal passed gives him a chance to shake off that image.

It also is a good sign for the Republican leadership, which was being held hostage by a cadre of radical, anti-tax members happy to see government shut down rather than compromise. This group - which numbers about 50 in the House and Senate - favored paralysis over governing. We're glad to see them slapped back into place by the more reasonable majority of Republican legislators.

But increased spending means increased taxes. The Legislature avoided an increase in the income or sales tax, but it went looking for other items to tax. The cigarette tax will go up $1 a pack. That tax will total $2.60 a pack in most areas of the state, $4.60 in Philadelphia, because the city has its own $2-a-pack tax. The Legislature decided to tax smokeless tobacco and e-cigarettes for the first time. It also decided to levy the 6 percent sales tax on digital downloads of movies, music and TV shows.

In all, the new or increased taxes are expected to raise $727 million, far short of the $1.4 billion needed. The Legislature came up with the rest by taking "loans" from other government funds, by selling licenses for new slots venues and internet gaming and by extending wine sales to supermarkets. These and other items will bring in $700 million, but are non-recurring. The money raised won't be available next year. (Once you sell a license, you can't sell it again.)

This means there will be a fight over taxes and spending again next year - and the year after that, and the year after that - until the state decides to get serious about raising the money needed to keep government running.