Monday, August 04, 2003

By Johnna A. Pro, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

HARRISBURG -- Members of the state House return to the capital this morning for two work days, but they won't be tackling any serious issues facing Pennsylvania -- specifically the budget debacle that is forcing county governments to cut services to the neediest residents.

Instead, they'll be partying.

The only order of business on the House calendar is a swearing-in ceremony -- a taxpayer-funded congratulatory celebration -- for newly elected Rep. Matthew Good, R-Erie, who succeeds the late Karl Boyes.

While House members can at least say they went back to the Capitol in the middle of a budget crisis, the state's senators are still in recess with no sign of returning to Harrisburg. Technically, senators were told to be ready to return to work with six hours' notice.

But realistically, no one expects them back before late September.

Gov. Ed Rendell continues working and said he's prepared to cancel his vacation to craft a budget compromise.

But he did take time out of his schedule last week to broker a hoagie deal with the Philadelphia Eagles, ensuring that fans who attend football games at the new Lincoln Financial Field can carry their cheese steaks into the games.

"The public hasn't gotten the message yet that, essentially, the state has stopped. We're all holding our breath," said Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania. "The question is when do they start feeling pressure."

Because Democrats control the administration and Republicans control the Legislature, five entities now wield power over the budget process for the first time in decades: the administration, House Republicans, House Democrats, Senate Republicans and Senate Democrats.

And while some differences are politically motivated, deep philosophical differences exist as well, which have complicated the process.

"It sure looks like a stalemate from 250 miles away," said political analyst William J. Green, of Pittsburgh. "No one's budging."

There is what appears to be an unbreachable gulf between the administration and Senate Republicans over new taxes and education funding. Senators who support expanded gambling are furious with House members who want it made bigger. Everyone wants property tax reform, but everyone has a different idea of how to pay for it. Economic development initiatives that were thought to have bipartisan support still haven't moved forward.

On the back burner are issues such as medical malpractice, prescription drugs for the elderly and lowering DUI limits. While staff members are talking to each other, legislative leaders and the governor hold sporadic discussions, but no one is sitting down at the same table.

At this point, Senate Republicans are taking the brunt of the criticism for the lack of action, publicly from Rendell and the Democrats and privately from some rank-and-file House Republicans.

House Republicans, under the leadership of Speaker John M. Perzel, R-Philadelphia, and Samuel H. Smith, R-Punxsutawney, have forged a somewhat fragile working relationship with Rendell and the Democrats.

The Senate Republicans, though, are more staunch in their opposition at this point, particularly on taxes.

" 'Chip' Brightbill is the Newt Gingrich of the moment," said House Minority Leader H. William DeWeese, D-Waynesburg, lashing out at the Senate's Republican leader, David J. Brightbill, R-Lebanon. "[He] is doing everything he can to countervail and countermine the mandate of last November when Edward G. Rendell was catapulted to the governor's mansion.

"This is bald, unadulterated politics at its dizzying zenith. The Senate Republican leadership team is not inclined at all to be helpful. I think the microscope of public opinion should be focused on their behavior."

Brightbill defended the GOP, saying senators are involved in the process but want to move more slowly than Rendell and the Democrats. And they simply don't believe that, in the current economy, taxes are a good idea.

"We need a global process that pulls this all together," Brightbill said last week. "Nothing is going to happen without an appropriate dignified process. Everybody has to step back and take a breath."

The situation will simmer longer before it reaches a boiling point, said Washington County native Larry Ceisler, a Philadelphia-based political consultant.

"I think that whatever is going to happen on these issues is going to set the tone for Rendell's first term. All sides know that," Ceisler said. "All five sides are feeling each other out. Once a breakthrough is made, and once the Republicans have figured out how to work with the governor, you're going to see a much better relationship going forward. It's like going on a first date.

"There is the great middle ground and when they find that middle ground they're going to be able to co-exist much better."

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