HARRISBURG — Tom Wolf, a wealthy businessman, campaigned on a theme that, if elected, he would be a different kind of governor. Voters liked that.
Now he's surprising some people, saying he'll make his Mt. Wolf home in northern York County his primary residence. He'll refuse his state salary, now $187,256, and he plans to drive his Jeep as often as possible (when “practical”). He'll pay for an office in a building across from his house for his state police security detail that usually chauffeurs governors in an oversize SUV.
If you work for him, gifts will be verboten, even gifts as small as a cup of coffee. All of this helps his image and it does send a message to Pennsylvanians that maybe — just maybe — things are changing for the better.
But it is purely symbolic — and the amount of money trivial — compared to the higher taxes people would pay if he could have his way on tax increases, critics say. Besides, the governor's mansion will remain open, at a cost to taxpayers of $1.2 million for maintenance and staff.
It will still be used for official functions and public visitations and Wolf may stay there on occasion, his staff says. The decision to stay in a small town, his hometown named after an ancestor, is a good one, I think, because it will keep the governor in touch with ordinary York County folks.
Yes, he wants to levy an extraction tax on gas drillers, but regarding the income tax proposal he discussed during the campaign, that's for “tax fairness” to give middle-class taxpayers a break, spokesman Jeffrey Sheridan said. Wolf is not pushing to increase income taxes, said Sheridan.
However, in any so-called tax reform, someone usually pays more, and it is likely to be “wealthier” Pennsylvanians of some unknown income level.
Be wary, a critic suggests. Wolf should be “commended for his efforts to eliminate conflicts of interest in his administration with gift bans,” said Matthew Brouillette, president of the Commonwealth Foundation, a conservative think tank. “It is also nice of him to save the taxpayers money by paying for his own security details. But what about his own very clear conflict of interest that will likely cost the taxpayers far more than what he's saving us?”
Brouillette said that during the next six months, Wolf will be negotiating salaries and health-care benefits with unions representing public employees, who donated $3.4 million to his campaign. Brouillette expects the unions will want a “good return on their political investments.”
Sheridan fired back. He said it's clear that the views of the Commonwealth Foundation “come with a political perspective and an agenda.”
Wolf will be “working to ensure that the interests of the taxpayers and the state employees are carefully considered and balanced in future labor negotiations.” To suggest any other factors drive that process is inaccurate, Sheridan said.
The Republican Legislature, if it chooses, can block tax proposals but can't control union contracts.
Still, the symbolic statements Wolf is making on salary and living at home are valid and important.
Brad Bumsted is Trib Total Media's state Capitol reporter (717-787-1405 or bbumsted@tribweb.com).
