Pennsylvania Budget Impasse Ends

After a nine-month impasse, Gov. Tom Wolf has relented and said he will not veto a Republican spending package, allowing it to lapse into law on Sunday. But he’s not happy about it. “This will allow for funding to go out to schools and other services in the short term, but we still face enormous problems that this budget does not even pretend to address”.

The governor says he spoke with legislative leaders on both sides of the aisle before making his announcement and the focus will now be on the 2016-17 budget.

“I am going to allow the 2015-2016 budget to become law without my signature”, said Governor Tom Wolf.

PennLive notes the decision is a turnaround for the Democratic governor from just last week after he threatened to veto the budget. The stalemate stemmed from Wolf’s intent to raise the levies to finance education, while lawmakers were resistant and wanted to adjust state worker benefits to shore up the underfunded pension system.

Rep. Stephen Bloom (R-Cumberland) said the $30 billion budget drops proposed tax hikes and increases basic education funding by $200 million. “We’ve been pushing for a budget with responsible spending and no tax increase”, he said. Penn State President Eric Barron said last month that without the appropriation the University would be forced to layoff 1,100 employees across the state and shut down programs, essentially marking a hiatus – if not an end – in Penn State’s historical relationship to the state as a land-grant university.

“We are in an emergency situation”, said Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman. By threatening last week to veto the GOP-crafted supplemental spending plan, Wolf had signaled he would hold out for a budget that hewed to his priorities, such as including more funding for education. This $20.6 million will help erase most of that. “We had had the same level of funding for four years and the year before that (2011-12) we had had a 20 percent cut”, Mr. Marshall said.

Pennsylvania is home to 160 brick-and-mortar charter schools that enroll more than 100,000 students. “This is not posturing, this is about Pennsylvania’s future and we all need to do the right thing in Harrisburg, and that’s what I’m trying to do”.