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 But if he wins, Tom Wolf, who was Revenue Secretary under former
Democratic Governor Ed Rendell, probably could not get the plan past
the Republican legislature, one that did not even support most
proposals from a fellow Republican, incumbent Governor Tom Corbett.
Whichever candidate prevails, he faces a fiscal mess with few easy
fixes. Pennsylvania's public pension system has a $50 billion future
gap at a time when new revenue is in short supply because of the
state's sluggish economic recovery.
"It's a budget nightmare for the next governor," said G. Terry
Madonna, public affairs professor at Pennsylvania's Franklin &
Marshall College.
Corbett proposed a pension fix early in 2013 which would have
lightened the load for state and local governments but increased
unfunded liabilities.
His plan flopped in the legislature, and the problem festers. The
state's pension contribution is about $4.2 billion, or 14.5 percent
of the general fund budget, and growing.
Wolf has been "painfully vague" in offering his own ideas to resolve
pension problems, said Christopher Borick, political science
professor at Muhlenberg College in Allentown.
"It's a tough issue politically, especially for a Democrat that
draws lots of support from interests that are affected by this," in
particular the teachers' union, Borick said.
Corbett had to close a $1.2 billion gap to balance this year's $29
billion budget. Pennsylvania has no money in its rainy-day fund.
Though he has gained ground, Corbett remains far behind Wolf, who
leads 53 - 40 percent, according to the latest Franklin & Marshall
College poll.
"Corbett has had a balanced budget for four years pretty much on
time, with no tax increases. It's not doing him much good," said
Steven Geisenberger, of the Pennsylvania Institute of Certified
Public Accountants' legislative committee.
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The most important issue to voters, the one that still has Corbett
on the defensive, is education spending.
Critics say Corbett presided over steep cuts in basic education
funding that hit poor school districts the hardest, especially
Philadelphia. The city has slashed programs, teachers and staff and
shuttered schools as its long-brewing financial crisis worsened.
Corbett insists that he restored big cuts made by Rendell, his
Democratic predecessor, who backfilled education funding with
federal stimulus money that quickly dried up.
Wolf says he wants to boost education funding, and would pay for it
with a 5 percent severance tax on the state's booming natural gas
industry. He claims that could generate $1 billion in new revenue.
That tax would be more palatable to Republicans, analysts said, with
some from Philadelphia's suburbs already supportive.
Corbett previously opposed a severance tax out of concern it would
threaten industry growth. While he still does not support it, he
said in a National Public Radio interview in mid-October that he
would consider taxing Pennsylvania gas transmission lines.
(Reporting by Hilary Russ; Editing by David Gregorio)
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