Saturday Night Debate
State Attorney General Tom Corbett and Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato assured voters Saturday night that they would cope with projected multi-billion dollar state deficits without raising taxes, but in their second debate neither gubernatorial candidate offered more than anecdotal suggestions on how they might achieve the deep spending cuts that would be needed to accomplish that goal. In a one-hour exchange, Mr. Onorato, the Democratic nominee, assailed his Republican opponent for what he characterized as shifts and qualifications in the Republican’s no-tax hike pledge.
Mr. Corbett charged that Mr. Onorato had oversold and fallen short on his pledges to reduce taxes in county government.
Mr. Onorato also sought to capitalize on Mr. Corbett backtracking from an earlier suggestion that he would consider raising employee contributions to deal with the massive debt owed to the federal government by the state unemployment compensation fund. Asked about the issue in their first debate, Mr. Corbett had ruled out an increase in the UC tax on employers but held open the possibility of an increase for employees, a suggestion that brought howls of outrage from labor officials. He did rule out the employee contribution Saturday night, explaining the shift after the debate by saying, “I had time to think about it.”
In his post-debate comments, Mr. Onorato mocked the new position.
“It could change again,” he said. “[It] shows he is not ready to govern.’’
The debate at WPXI-TV studios in Pittsburgh, just a few miles from each of their homes, came with less than three weeks to go before the Nov. 2 election. It was one of the last opportunities for Mr. Onorato to try to draw out his front-running opponent. Mr. Corbett, with a consistent lead in the polls, has run a more low-key campaign, careful not to do anything to shake up a status quo that appears to favor him along with GOP candidates up and down the ballot.
Saturday’s forum was sponsored by the Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters and moderated by Philadelphia Daily News political columnist John Baer. The last of their three planned debates is scheduled for Monday night in Philadelphia.
The candidates again split on the issue of taxing the burgeoning natural gas industry exploiting the state’s Marcellus Shale deposits.
Mr. Onorato criticized Mr. Corbett for his stand against a severance tax on the gas industry, charging that it was motivated by the dollars the Republican had received from the industry.
“Tom, the reality is that you took more money than any politician in Pennsylvania from the gas companies and you’re doing their bidding,” Mr. Onorato said.
Mr. Corbett responded that the tax proposed by the Democrat would choke off the gas industry in its infancy.
“A tax would be absolutely the worst thing you could do to this industry,” he said.
And he dismissed the suggestion that he could be swayed by industry contributions as he pointed out that his office, in its Bonusgate prosecutions, had indicted a lawmaker who had previously contributed to his campaign.
While stopping short of making specific accusations, Mr. Onorato said during the debate and to reporters afterwards that it was legitimate to raise questions about the timing and motivations of some of the attorney general’s prosecutions of legislative figures.
Mr. Corbett defended his prosecutorial record. He said that the grand jury probe had started with the legislative caucus that had appeared to use the greatest amount of money for electioneering — the House Democrats — and had moved on the House GOP. He emphasized the investigation was continuing.
Mr. Corbett, however, never directly addressed a question on why his office had not targeted a fellow Republican, state Sen. Jane Orie, who is facing seemingly similar charges of using public resources for electioneering. Ms. Orie is awaiting trial on charges pressed by Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr.
Echoing charges from his television advertisements, Mr. Corbett derided Mr. Onorato’s record as county executive, a record central to the Democrat’s campaign claim that he has demonstrated the ability to manage government and promote economic development. Mr. Corbett insisted that the Democrat had failed to deliver on a pre-election pledge to cut county taxes.
Mr. Onorato responded by pointing out that he had held the line on property tax increases, including increases in assessment values, and he claimed credit for the fact that County Council had enacted a property tax cut, in the form of a more generous homeowners exemption, after he had been elected but before he took office as county executive.
Mr. Onorato once again insisted that the Legislature was to blame for a new county tax in alcoholic drinks and rental cars. He has said repeatedly he preferred a different revenue source for the county’s mass transit funding.
The candidates split on two issues involving gun owners. Mr. Corbett said he would sign legislation that would expand the so-called Castle Doctrine, the area in which a property owner could shoot an intruder without facing criminal jeopardy.
Mr. Onorato said he opposed the bill and argued further that his position was supported by most law enforcement officials.
Mr. Onorato also said he opposed the Florida loophole on firearm licenses under which someone denied a gun permit in Pennsylvania could obtain one over the Internet from the state of Florida. Mr. Corbett said it was incorrect to call the procedure a loophole, arguing that the Sunshine State’s licensing procedures were as thorough as Pennsylvania’s.
The candidates also showed differences on how they would deal with the fiscal time bomb posed by the state’s pension obligations. While they both see the need to rein in benefits for new hires, they disagreed on how to do it. Mr. Onorato denounced as irresponsible the dramatic expansion in benefits enacted in the last months of the Tom Ridge administration and said he would roll them back.
Mr. Corbett said the state should follow the lead of many businesses in imposing either a pure defined contributions plan or a hybrid system of defined contributions and the more traditional defined benefits approach of the current law.
The next governor will face a deficit variously projected at between $2 billion and $5 billion. When pressed on how they could bridge such a gap without new taxes, Mr. Corbett pointed to Auditor General Jack Wagner’s finding the state’s Medicaid rolls were rife with ineligible recipients. Mr. Onorato said he would consider but hadn’t reached conclusions on proposals such as merging the Turnpike system with the state’s Department of Transportation.
Mr. Corbett said he would sign a bill banning abortion if the Legislature sent it to him. Mr. Onorato said he would veto any attempt to change the current law. Both candidates said they opposed the concept of legalizing marijuana for medical purposes.