In Harrisburg, even when standard American politics is committed—like, say, the settlement on the lesser of two evils is agreed upon after more than a year of debate—leadership still decides to punt.

Such happened late last week when members of the state House decided actually, no, they’re not going to come back from summer recess to vote on a $2 per pack cigarette tax to help fund Philadelphia schools, which was the best solution the city and state could come up with to deal with the latest wave in the state’s ongoing education crisis.

Advocates and opposition political leaders were, understandably, upset.

“The state abdicating its responsibility to hundreds of thousands of children is a sign of moral bankruptcy and deserves a prophetic response,” wrote Philadelphians Organized to Witness, Empower and Rebuild, in a press release last week. “We believe that children should only attend schools that are worthy of them, and will support Superintendent Hite should he decide to keep schools closed until more money is released.”

So on Monday, Philadelphia school advocates and students arrived in Harrisburg to make their presence, and need for cash, known. They were met by a mostly-empty Capitol.

The rally, headed up by Public Citizens for Children and Youth, and others, had been going on most of the late morning and early afternoon. The kids were supported by some legislators—all Democrats—who are, similarly, calling for the House to reconvene. Only Republican leadership can reconvene a special summer session, since they have the majority.

The rally and outrage over the lack of progress on this issue should show everyone how desperate the district actually is for cash. Numerous leaders have noted that without extra cash, Philly schools may not even open. But this is what happens when you’re led by a one of the country’s largest full-time legislatures who can’t seem to do anything right.

A flawed bill

To be clear, the proposed tax was flawed. By building revenue via cigarette sales, the city was vying to essentially fundraise on the backs of the poor (who are more likely to be cigarette smokers), and was relying on cash from the same people it’s trying to convince to quit smoking altogether (via SmokeFree Philly and other public health projects). Meaning the city is attempting to save its schoolchildren through a source of revenue that the city is spending money on to, hopefully, decreasing over time.

“[A cigarette tax] is a very temporary solution…Moreover, that doesn’t stop this long-term crisis we see in Philadelphia of underperformance, of families fleeing the district schools to go to charter schools, of spending increases and always running deficits, isn’t going to be solved by this one tax increase,” noted the Commonwealth Foundation, a right-wing, Harrisburg-based organization, on their Facebook page today.

They’re right, in a way. A cigarette tax doesn’t stop the long-term crisis Philly schools find themselves in. But it’s still something, and just because it sucks, doesn’t mean we should disregard it altogether. In a state Legislature with such low expectations, something is nothing to dismiss. Plus, the Commonwealth Foundation has its own priorities.

On Wednesday, a hearing will be held at Philadelphia City Hall to discuss this current situation, put together in part by state Senator Vincent Hughes.

Before that happens—and because this is so important—it might help to understand the situation at hand in a simpler way. Local good government group The Committee of Seventy has put together a recent report showing why Harrisburg has Philly schools “by the balls.”

A complicated matter

The short of it is that municipalities in Pennsylvania do not have the authority to tax themselves on certain things, like cigarettes. They can raise our property taxes whenever they want, though. So, when a $2/pack tax was passed unanimously by City Council in June 2013, that was the well-known first step in a long line of them which wouldn’t be completed any time soon. After Philly passed the tax, it was referred to the Legislature where it was passed—three times! And by both Houses of the General Assembly.

Then, this spring, it was amended again. This time, to make sure the cigarette tax wouldn’t last forever. Five years, Harrisburg’s Republicans thought, was enough. Because cigarette smoking it totally ready to make a comeback, any day now.

Lawmakers insist they’re ready to give Philly the authority to raise prices on pre-rolled, cancer-causing tobacco, but just hold on a second, OK guys?

“Lawmakers whose votes are needed on the cigarette tax want something for their own districts,” notes Seventy. “For instance, a state Representative from York County says he can’t vote for the cigarette tax unless his county gets authority to raise its hotel tax by two percent. Many non-Philly lawmakers also point out that their school districts have money problems too.”

Another non-solution

The House reconvenes on September 15, more than a month from now, when they’ll have the opportunity to, perhaps, vote on the bill or, who knows, amend it again.

In the meantime, apparently not wanting to spent his re-election campaign the butt of local, state and national media asking why he’s denying inner-city children access to education, has signaled he may be able to advance the school “millions of dollars in state education money,” according to an Inquirer report, to make sure they open on time.

Meaning the doors will literally be open, but as for re-purposing funds and making sure Philly’s, and the rest of the state’s, kids get fully funded and stop watching bureaucrats negotiate their futures every year: yeah, they’re going to need to wait until we have a new governor for that.

Philadelphia Weekly – August 5, 2014 – Read article online