There is an important factor that is flying under the radar in all the talk surrounding that "broad framework" for a budget deal reached by Gov. Tom Wolf and Republicans in the state Legislature this week.
The decision to deep-six any new tax on the Marcellus shale gas operations will be debated for a long time.
But the budget does accomplish one essential: It puts the state on course to once and for all attack what has been described as the "ticking time bomb" in the state budget.
That would be the massive unfunded liability in the state's two large public employee pension plans.
This is something the state has put off far too long. Addressing it was the right thing to do.
We talk about it on our editorial page.
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