Lawmakers need to act on budget now

One would think that among 254 legislators and a governor, one of them would have a bright idea on how to end the brutal four-month-long budget impasse. So far, neither Gov. Tom Wolf nor the 50 members of the state Senate nor the 203 members of the state House have been able to crack the inaction code.

There has been an incredible amount of posturing and hyperbole by the majority Republicans and the minority Democrats, and a few concessions offered by both sides, but, so far, nothing has budged the two sides from their largely intractable positions.

One of our local legislators, state Sen. Lisa Boscola, D-Northampton and Lehigh, suggested recently that all lawmakers remain in Harrisburg until the deadlock ends.

I am going to up the ante: Put the governor and the leaders of both houses in a room, lock the door and force them to stay there (with bathroom and meal breaks, of course) until they forge an agreement. It has worked in private industry when labor and management have been unable to see eye-to-eye on a new contract.

I also propose that since they are not doing the main job they were elected to do that legislators forgo their $84,012.31 annual salaries (higher for those in leadership positions) until an agreement is reached. I would suggest the same for Wolf, but he is so well-off that he doesn't take his annual gubernatorial salary of $187,256, and, instead, gives it all to charity. If it were legal, I would fine him $513 a day (1/365th of his annual salary) until this travesty ends.

Unfortunately, there is no such thing as binding arbitration, or, for that matter, even nonbinding arbitration where an impartial fact finder reviews the demands of each side then comes up with a compromise that both can live with.

Boscola characterized the stalemate as a "disgrace." She added: "This impasse has crippled the state's credit rating, compromised state services and is on the brink of closing down our schools. It's time for all legislators to quit the partisan bickering and begin working together on solutions."

Boscola has urged other senators to vote against any motion to adjourn until an agreement is reached. The Senate is scheduled to break this week until Nov. 16.

It would be unconscionable and mind-boggling if our legislators went on "fall break" while many entities dependent on state funding are hanging from their thumbs. Let's call it the modern-day equivalent of the governor and legislators fiddling while the commonwealth burns.

"We need to compromise, find common ground and work together on creative solutions to issues," Boscola said.

"Everyone needs to understand that this is not a winner-take-all game and that the protracted impasse has further deteriorated people's faith in their state government."

This view is borne out by a recently published Morning Call/Muhlenberg College poll of 457 Pennsylvania voters, which shows that Wolf has squandered a tremendous amount of political capital that he had won when he came into office in January.

In the latest poll, 40 percent now disapprove of Wolf's job performance, up significantly from the 13 percent in a similar poll in February.

The approval rating for state legislators went from 30 percent in February to 20 percent in the poll taken earlier this month.

When asked who's to blame for the budget mess, 24 percent said they blame Wolf; 38 percent blame state legislators, and 29 percent blame both equally.

It's time to put pressure on Wolf and your local legislators by demanding that they do their jobs, and do so now. Write, call, email, text, tweet.

Let's tell them that we are mad as hell, and we're not going to put up with it any longer.

Bruce Frassinelli | tneditor@tnonline.com