Raymond P. Shafer, a Republican who transformed the mechanics of Pennsylvania's government but couldn't solve its huge financial woes as governor from 1967 to 1971, died Tuesday, a hospital spokesman said.
He was 89. Duane Koller, a spokesman at Meadville Medical Center, confirmed the death.
Shafer, who later led a federal commission that urged the decriminalization of marijuana, was the last governor of Pennsylvania limited to a single term. As its chief executive, he led an overhaul of the state constitution that had grown outdated, winning several constitutional changes from the Republican-controlled Legislature and voters.
But by the time Shafer's term ended, the state's finances were in shambles, partly because of massive spending increases he pushed through. It was estimated that by the time Shafer left office, Pennsylvania was spending $2 million more per day than it brought in.
Spending grew as the state government began giving more to education and public assistance. Under his watch, basic education funding increased by 71 percent, higher education by 47 percent and public assistance by 187 percent, according to the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.
To try to bridge the gap, many state taxes increased. The sales tax went from 5 percent to 6 percent in 1968, the highest in the nation at the time; the cigarette tax was raised; and numerous business taxes went up.
Shafer's popularity sank in 1969 when he proposed a state income tax, an idea so disliked that Shafer was once hung in effigy by 250 people in the village of Boston, in Elizabeth Township, who said they were holding a "second Boston Tea Party." Shafer said he needed the tax to finance a 25 percent increase in the state budget to pay for education and welfare, but he was met with hostility when he tried to sell the idea at town meetings.
The income tax proposal cost Shafer's lieutenant governor, Raymond J. Broderick, the 1970 gubernatorial election and helped propel Democrats to control the governor's office and both houses in the General Assembly. The tax was enacted soon after by the new governor, Milton J. Shapp.
Shafer also oversaw big changes to the state constitution and how the administration functioned.
Among other things, the changes enacted during his term included extending the term-limit for governor to two four-year terms; making General Assembly sessions last two years; allowing audits of the state's finances; and creating a unified state judicial system.
He also signed legislation to create the Department of Environmental Resources, which oversaw environmental programs, state park management and mining regulation, and a law that consolidated four separate agencies into the new Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.
Shafer had to call out the National Guard in 1967 to try to halt violence during a bitter strike by 15,000 steel-hauling truck drivers. The strike paralyzed the steel industry for nearly two months as thousands of steelworkers were laid off because shipping was disrupted.
The drivers, who were independent contractors, wanted higher payments for deliveries and to be paid for their time spent waiting at steel mills. Shafer helped broker a deal that ended the strike, which was marked by firebombs, rifle fire and fights.
Shafer's administration was embarrassed in early 1968 when the state commissioner for the blind fabricated a story that six college students were blinded by the sun after taking LSD. Shafer at first said he was convinced the report was true, but held a news conference the next day to announce that it was a hoax.
Shafer reluctantly signed legislation in 1970 that made Pennsylvania the first state in the nation to permit its public employees to join unions and strike. He also oversaw the enactment of the Corrupt Organizations Act, which sought to keep organized crime out of Pennsylvania businesses.
After serving in the Navy during World War II, Shafer went into law practice and was elected Crawford County district attorney, a position he held from 1948 to 1956. He won a 1958 state Senate election and became lieutenant governor under William W. Scranton in 1963.
Shafer won the 1966 gubernatorial election by defeating Shapp, a Philadelphian who made millions in the cable TV industry, by more than 240,000 votes.
