Save the Arts in PA

From the Delaware County Daily Times

Residents living in the last state in the union to approve a comprehensive budget must be scratching their heads on the final pact agreed on by the state House, state Senate and Gov. Edward Rendell.

Now, the agreement is only a framework for the 2009-2010 state budget. Our elected leaders are still working to draft a line-item budget and a number of bills that must be passed before the budget can be enacted. Pennsylvania Senate President Joe Scarnati said he does not expect legislative action to be completed this week.

The long budget struggle between state Democrats and Republicans focused on holding the line versus raising taxes. So they comprised.

Here comes the head-scratching part.

The folks in Harrisburg decided to maintain a long-standing tax exemption on the sale of cigars and smokeless tobacco. The group that raised taxes on cigarettes 25 cents a pack and imposed a sales tax on “little cigars” at the same rate as cigarettes because of the strain on health care costs due to smoking have apparently decided cigar smokers and tobacco chewers don’t have a cancer risk. Maybe they should report their findings to the AMA.

But, the people Pennsylvanians pay to make decisions found other things to tax. Harrisburg wants to tax the arts. The new budget plans to extend Pennsylvania’s sales tax to the performing arts, museums, historical sites, zoos and parks.

Of course, they did not extend the new tax to sporting events. Taxpayers have already subsidized rich sports owners and their rich players by paying a share of the costs for their showcase stadiums. Now Harrisburg doesn’t want those to encumber that group by adding the same tax to their tickets that the Media Theatre must pay.

An added slap to cultural institutions in the state is that only a portion of the revenue collected from the new tax would be funneled into a special fund reserved for supporting the arts and cultural institutions. The rest would help pay for other items in the nearly $28 billion state budget deal struck by the governor and leaders of three of the four legislative caucuses. The percentage that would be earmarked for the special fund was still being firmed up — like many details of the budget deal.

The tax-deciding Legislature and governor found another way to save cigar smokers, tobacco chewers and sports franchise owners — a 20 percent tax on any club licensed by the state’s Liquor Control Board on its earnings from games of chance, such as punch boards, pull-tabs, raffles (including lotteries), daily drawings and weekly drawings.

Just whom does this tax hurt? While a few metropolitan fire departments receive some state funding, most of the departments that serve the residents of Delaware County rely on the above-named revenue sources to raise operating funds. Volunteer fireman and emergency service organizations trying to keep their financial heads above water are saddled with a 20 percent loss — money now earmarked for state tax coffers.

Residents of Pennsylvania are still waiting for a budget. If anyone had any doubts about who influences the elected men and women in Harrisburg, the decision on whom to levy taxes should provide an answer.