Wolf pleased, but ways to go to break stalemate

Gov. Tom Wolf is threatening to veto a short-term emergency spending package being advanced by Pennsylvania’s House GOP majority as a state government budget stalemate is close to smashing the state record and plowing past Christmas.

Wolf’s office said Friday it had corralled enough support from Democrats and moderate Republicans to pass the tax legislation, over the opposition of House Republican leaders.

It includes $150 million in additional aid for public schools; the bipartisan deal backed by Wolf would have delivered $350 million, a 6 percent increase.

Kentucky Republican Senator and 2016 presidential candidate Rand Paul told a NY radio station (via The Hill) over the weekend that he voted against it and said “my biggest complaint is that I have no idea what kind of things they stuck in the bill”.

The budget agreement calls for new revenue of more than $1.2 billion over a full year from tax increases or other new sources of money.

“This bill is not going anywhere”, he said.

“We are right back to where this whole mess started, talking about a spending plan that woefully underfunds public education and human services and is not in the best interests of this commonwealth moving forward”, Wiley said.

The state has been without a budget since July 1 this year, forcing state schools, nonprofits, and county governments to borrow money or make cuts to stay open.

He sent a letter Tuesday vowing to veto a temporary spending measure, calling it a retreat from a budget deal he negotiated with legislative leaders.

With acknowledgment that a fictional plot – spinning house in the tornado and all – is actually more believable than what’s happening in Harrisburg these days, Pennsylvania’s state budget is beginning to resemble “The Wizard of Oz”.

This budget is only about $30.3 billion as opposed to the $30.8 billion.

The lack of support for pension legislation and the lack of written tax legislation prompted House Republican leaders to send members home, with no set time to return.

Layoffs in state government could soon occur, Corman said, warning that a deadline is also approaching for the Educational Improvement Tax Credit program that funds private school scholarships. The spending plan represents a 6% increase over last year’s $29 billion budget.

This week, Rep. John Taylor, R-Philadelphia, said the issue is no longer considered central to the passage of a state budget. “We urge the governor to sign this bill when it gets to his desk”.

The main appropriations bill in a $30.8 billion spending package favored by Wolf passed the Senate two weeks ago and was teed up for a final vote in the House.

The state budget mess is getting messier and legislators are running out of patience, as the battle to get an agreement grows uglier by the day.

Tom Wolf joined the “KDKA Morning News” Tuesday and said the latest setback is the House Republicans’ fault. That led to the annual budgets we are familiar with today.