Legislature leaves Wolf with decision on budget he opposes

Pennsylvania’s 6-month old budget stalemate may be coming to an end.

A Wolf veto – and likely not enough votes to override it – would leave legislators and the governor back to square one, without a lot of options to get a budget done before the Christmas holiday and potentially, the new year.

Gov. Tom Wolf is blaming House Republican leaders for Pennsylvania state government’s almost record-long budget stalemate ahead of another battle over what kind of spending plan the GOP-controlled House of Representatives will support.

“A stopgap budget does not solve Pennsylvania’s problems, and if the legislature sends a stopgap to Governor Wolf, he will veto the entire bill”, Jeff Sheridan, a spokesman for the governor, said in a statement.

Elements of the budget deal remain unresolved.

Most House Republicans are opposing crucial pieces of a bipartisan budget deal to raise taxes to increase public school aid and close a deficit. With support of an additional 24 Republicans as well as every Democrat, the alternative has already passed the Senate, according to the York Daily Record.

House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., on Sunday went to the throne room of liberal Washington journalism to dismiss the populist conservative media instrumental in giving Republicans control of the House in the first place.

The parliamentary maneuvers also defeated the House GOP leadership’s effort to pass a short-term emergency spending plan, called a “stopgap budget”, that Wolf had threatened to veto. “It does not restore funding to our schools and it does not begin to fix our deficit”.

In a press release, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell touted provisions tucked into the bill that he says will benefit Kentucky – including $200 million for cleanup at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant, $10 million for broadband development in Central Appalachia, and the permanent extension of tax credits for Kentucky businesses and farmers.

This budget spends over $3.5 billion less than the Governor originally wanted (in his original March proposal) and $600 million less than what had been on the table (from November’s framework agreement).

Wednesday will be busy in the state Capitol.

Sens. David Argall, R-29, Tamaqua; Lisa Baker, R-20, Lehman Twp.; John Gordner, R-27, Berwick; Mario Scavello, R-44, Mount Pocono and Gene Yaw, R-23, Williamsport, voted for the bill.

Republicans are urging Wolf to sign it, and stop the borrowing, layoffs or service delays by school districts, counties and social services agencies struggling to get by without state aid. House Speaker Mike Turzai’s signature is required on the bill before it can go to the governor’s desk.

Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati told reporters after a meeting with House Republican leaders Wednesday there doesn’t seem to be sufficient support for the pension bill, and without it the Senate won’t agree to tax increases. It would alter the retirement benefits for newly hired teachers and state workers, and make other changes affecting current employees.

Like Dorothy, our poor state budget is wandering in search of its home.