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By State Senator Vincent J. Fumo
The exercise of raw political power rarely surprises me. I've been in Harrisburg long enough to see plenty of examples. I've used it myself a few times. When I did, it was to advance a cause that I believed in, or to bring some help to my region of the state.
What you almost never see, however, is one political party do something utterly contrary to its own fundamental principles. And you almost never see a legislative leader ram something through the General Assembly that hurts the interests of his hometown and the constituents that he represents.
That is what was so shocking about Rep. John Perzel and the Republican Party engineering the state takeover of the Philadelphia Parking
Authority last week.
If you listen to the GOP mantra since the days of Ronald Reagan, they are supposedly the party of local control. They supposedly want to get big-brother government off the backs of local officials. They speak in reverent tones about the sanctity of people's right to determine what goes on in their own neighborhoods, their own schools, their own towns.
In everything from education to taxation to land use planning, Republicans worship at the alter of local autonomy.
It is amazing how quickly they can make a mockery of their own philosophy if they think it will produce a little political gain. This legislation - not surprisingly crafted in total secrecy by legislative leaders and Republican governor - is about grabbing patronage, and nothing more.
The big problem with the state takeover of the Parking Authority isn't that a few hundred patronage jobs will shift to the Republicans. That doesn't make much difference from a public policy perspective. Rather, it is these two things:
First, it tramples on the rights of a locally elected government to run its own affairs, and in that regard sets a dangerous precedent. Will Harrisburg politicians ride in and usurp the functions of local government whenever a mayor or a township board doesn't do their bidding? Or is it just Philadelphians who won't be able to control their own basic municipal functions such as parking?
There may be times when an agency is so poorly run that a state takeover is warranted, but it should never be done just to acquire patronage. Also, it should be done in a bipartisan manner, to signal that there is widespread agreement that state intervention is necessary.
Second, it was all done under the cynical guise of helping Philadelphia's school children. It was a phony solution to a problem that should be our highest priority.
The fact that this move was inflicted on Philadelphia by a Philadelphia makes it all the more disturbing
Perzel has been given credit for his craftiness and shrewd political maneuvering, but frankly, there was nothing sly or particularly clever about the Parking Authority bill. When your party controls the legislature and you have a governor who is willing to play your game, you can railroad any piece of legislation that you like. Democrats couldn't have stopped it even if we had known about it.
The question people have to ask is: What are Perzel and the Republicans doing with the power that they have?
Purportedly, the Parking Authority takeover was done to divert $45 million in excess revenue to Philadelphia School District. Even if that $45 million were actually available, it would not come close to addressing the $215 billion annual deficit that the city schools expect to face next year. (In truth, the parking Authority won't be able to send much more than $3 million to the schools.)
It is useful to look at what Gov. Ridge and the Republican legislative leaders have done with education funding over the past six years. The share of the total statewide amount of education costs paid by the state had declined from 42 percent to 38 percent. The funding gap between wealthy school districts and poor ones has gotten wider instead of smaller, because Ridge discontinued the equity initiatives started under former Gov. Robert Casey.
In the face of this declining state interest in making sure that all children of the commonwealth receive a good education, Mayor Street has made a solid, good-faith effort to cooperate with Gov. Ridge to find solutions to the Philadelphia School District's financial woes.
The governor, while claiming that he wants to be a partner with the mayor in this endeavor, really just wants to avoid dealing with the problem until he leaves office a year and a half from now. The Parking Authority bill was just more evidence.
That is why we got a patronage grab disguised as aid to the Philadelphia School District. It's a hoax, just like the academic takeover law that the governor never intends to use. It allowed Republicans to pretend to the public that they are taking steps to deal with education funding.
I can understand the Republicans' desire to strengthen their political party in Philadelphia by controlling some Parking Authority jobs. What I can't understand is how a Philadelphian can make that a higher priority than the city's home rule, let alone a higher priority than school children who need help from Harrisburg but instead get crass political gamesmanship.
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