Governor Tom Wolf plans to veto a Republican-crafted measure that aimed to end the months-long state budget crisis.
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As ever, Wolf has again promised to veto the roughly $30 billion package that included general appropriations for the still-unfinished fiscal 2015-16 budget and cash for the four, state-related universities.
Meanwhile, the state is funding prisons and Medicaid costs without legislative authority two-thirds of the way through the state government’s fiscal year, while a projected deficit of approximately $2 billion looms next year.
In his statement, Mr. Wolf called the Republican plan an “unbalanced budget that does not fund our schools or fix the deficit”. “We can not allow our schools to close or people to lose their jobs, which is a very real and unacceptable possibility if this supplemental budget is not enacted”. It was unclear whether Wolf would sign the university-funding bills. Don White said in a release Wednesday. “No, of course not”.
“The math in the latest version still does not work”.
“This is why you don’t do it piecemeal. No one has answered that question”, Wolf said. “Instead of reaching a compromise, we’re sending a bill that will be vetoed”.
Republicans who hold majorities in the House and Senate have now sent Democratic Governor Wolf a bill meant to address the parts of the spending plan that were nixed. The bill sails through the House and Senate, mostly along party lines, and lands with a thud on Wolf’s desk.
Republicans say it’s created to resolve a partisan budget fight that’s left schools, hospitals and universities warning of closures or layoffs two-thirds into the state government’s fiscal year. “It pales in comparison to the decision that employees are going to have make, are they going to work without pay”.
The total state investment in basic education increases by $200 million over previous year to a record $5.93 billion. “Budget deals are being put together and then we just watch them fall apart”. Elder Vogel, R-47, New Sewickley Township, said larger state human services subsidies aren’t needed as much as more flexibility in moving around the money to where it’s needed most. “What happens when we get to that point, I don’t know”.
Republicans say the lower numbers are justified because even some agreed-to spending increases cannot practically be put to use in the last quarter of the current fiscal year.
The lengthy budget stalemate has a trickle-down effect on counties and school districts, and it sets a bad example of leadership, Egley said. “This option is not viable since the repayment of any loan would correspond with the same timeframe in which we are at risk for running out of money”.
Universities: In the House, Democrats cooperated Wednesday in authorizing about $578 million for five state-subsidized universities – Penn State, Pitt, Temple, Lincoln and the University of Pennsylvania’s veterinary school.
The university funding represented a 5 percent increase.
This is simply unproductive and a waste of taxpayer resources.
Though Wolf introduced a fiscal 2017 budget on February 9, the state still has only a partial spending plan for this fiscal year, which began July 1. The package involved a $1 billion-plus tax increase.
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In December, Governor Wolf partially signed and partially vetoed a budget he didn’t like. It revolves around an 11 percent income tax increase that would cost a $50,000-a-year earner an extra $165 annually and leave Pennsylvania with one of the nation’s lowest income tax rates.
