The $898 million deposit into the state government’s “rainy day” fund, reported by the Center Square is a step in the right direction.

But it is a small step.

The 2022-23 budget is close to $45 billion — about $900 million more than the proceeding budget. The budget fails to account for a court directive for the state to restructure how public schools are funded in Pennsylvania. The state government continues to avoid realistic conversations about future pension obligations.

And so, it remains clear to us that Pennsylvania must cut spending.

It absolutely must cut unnecessary spending and we believe the state needs to have frank discussions about reducing the amounts allocated even to programs and initiatives for which there historically has been broad consensus that state funding is “necessary.”

Our state must be competitive with other states — both neighboring states and states further to our south and to our west — in attracting development and employers.

Future tax increases cannot solve the present’s poor planning. Tax increases in five or six or seven years can only hasten the loss of jobs and the loss of families to states that are willing to confront the realities that bigger, more cumbersome government and ever-increasing government spending fail as a philosophy.

We need our state’s officials to understand these underlying concerns now — not in five or six or seven years. We need our state leaders to commit to fiscal prudence and responsibility to position our state for future growth, not future failure.