Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf must be daft. Why else would he frame his continuing push to raise the state-mandated minimum wage by more than 100 percent as part of a “recovery framework” from the coronavirus pandemic?
Once again, Wolf wants an immediate increase from $7.25 hourly to $12 and, eventually, to $15 an hour.
Allow us to translate: The same governor who bankrupted the Keystone State economy by arbitrarily shuttering some businesses and allowing others to stay open – in a secret process, no less – now wants to force a massive increase in the cost of those businesses to do business.
On what planet?
But, but, but, have no fear, Wolf retorts; there are state (i.e. taxpayer) dollars to help businesses recover. So, “The State” forces businesses that it closed to pay employees a far higher state-mandated wage, then, to cover the cost of that abomination, it makes more state money available to cover those higher costs?
Sorry, but none of this computes. In the warped world of government “beneficence,” perhaps “The State” is attempting to compete with federal unemployment benefits that are paying a premium to keep people on the dole.
But wait, there’s more.
Wolf also plans “investments” in the Pennsylvania agriculture industry.
No doubt some of this additional bolus of taxpayer money will be used to cover for past unsustainable business practices that have nothing to do with the coronavirus pandemic.
And what’s next, a state-ordered policy in which the government-knows-best crowd tells farmers what crops to plant and sell, with that same government setting volumes produced and prices charged?
It’s not that far-fetched, considering government has paid farmers not to grow certain crops.
More on the farm angle later herein.
This scrivener warned many weeks ago against allowing public entities such as the Port Authority of Allegheny County and the county Airport Authority to use the pandemic as an excuse to secure “recovery dollars” that also would cover, and mask, past poor business practices.
It’s part and parcel to that concept of never allowing a public policy crisis to go to waste.
But there just might be a silver lining in post-pandemic policy making if one proposed bill gains traction in Harrisburg.
The measure, House Bill 2547 and sponsored by Rep. Tim O’Neal, would close state stores, privatize the wholesale liquor system and create private outlets for liquor.
A similar bill was vetoed in 2015.
O’Neal pitches the bill as being necessary because of how the Wolf administration shut down state liquor stores during the height of the pandemic, leading to multimillion-dollar losses and turning consumers into nothing less than cross-state “bootleggers.”
But even without the pandemic machinations, O’Neal’s rationale for getting the commonwealth out of the liquor business is evergreen:
“The (Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board) drives up costs while at the same time decreasing selection and convenience,” O’Neal says. “But even more concerning is that the current system forces Pennsylvanians, small businesses and local family restaurants into doing business with a government-run monopoly that’s rife with political favoritism.”
As O’Neal reminds, Pennsylvania is one of two states in the country where all wholesale and retail sales of wine and spirits remain state-controlled.
“The state-controlled liquor monopoly was set up in 1939 to make it as inconvenient as possible to purchase wine and spirits in Pennsylvania, and it’s clear that is still its mission today.
“The time has come to revisit ending this antiquated government system once and for all,” he says.
No, Representative, it’s long past time.
Back to farming:
The Tribune-Review reports that Keystone State “farmers and ranchers who have lost revenue because of the covid-19 pandemic can apply for federal aid to compensate for their losses.”
From a $16 billion federal fund, farmers and producers are eligible for up to $250,000 per person or farm. Farm corporations are eligible for up to $750,000.
That’s all well and good, we suppose. After all, farmers have been hit very hard by the pandemic’s economy-killing shutdown.
But the issue must be raised if farmers are being further subsidized for unsustainable practices.
That would include receiving price supports to mitigate over-production (be it for milk or pork or any other farm product), which has the perverse effect of encouraging more over-production and makes the cries even louder for price supports.
Public dollars are precious dollars. It’s bad enough that in good times the public treasury is regularly raided to cover for poor business behavior; using the coronavirus pandemic as a catch-all excuse to bail out losses that had nothing to do with the virus is not acceptable.
Colin McNickle is communications and marketing director at the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy (cmcnickle@alleghenyinstitute.org).
