Battle over state budget moves to the airwaves
HARRISBURG — The air war over Gov. Tom Wolf’s week-old budget standoff with Republicans who control the Pennsylvania Legislature expanded Wednesday with the launch of a TV ad by a national Democratic group.
The 30-second statewide ad by America Works USA, an affiliate of the Democratic Governors Association, aligns with Wolf’s public relations strategy. It takes on Republicans over the budget bill that Wolf vetoed, saying the GOP plan let the oil and gas industry off the hook, did not adequately fund education and would have deepened the deficit.
“Gov. Wolf is fighting for a middle-class budget that lowers property taxes and makes oil and gas companies pay up to fund our schools,” it finishes. “Tell the Legislature to get serious and pass a real budget.”
The ad comes a day after Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman, R-Centre, left a meeting with Wolf and told reporters that the effort to revive talks are stuck on Republican opposition to Wolf’s request for tax increases on sales and income to prop up state spending. Corman did not rule out other kinds of tax increases, and he said Republicans are open to helping Wolf meet his goals.
A spokesman for the DGA said the group is spending over $500,000 to run the ad for 10 days. America Works USA is organized under a section of the federal tax code that does not require it to disclose its donors.
A spokesman for House Majority Leader Dave Reed, R-Indiana, accused the Wolf administration of running itself like a campaign. Wolf’s gubernatorial campaign has continued to regularly blast out fundraising e-mails, he has started a new political action committee called Rebuild Pennsylvania, and he has voiced a radio ad paid for by America Works USA that is critical of Republicans.
Wednesday marked state government’s eighth day without an enacted budget, meaning that the Wolf administration has lost some authority to pay vendors.
For the time being, there is no slowdown in the state government’s payment activity, since vendor invoices are for work performed in June, when money was appropriated.
