“Even though 70 percent of the spending items in the budget we passed were the same or greater than what he proposed in his own budget, Governor [Tom] Wolf chose to veto the entire bill, cutting off funding for schools and human service agencies that rely on state funding”, Bartolotta said.
Advertisement
Republican lawmakers in Harrisburg are hearing from schools, social service providers, and non-profits in their districts that they should stop posturing and make a deal with Tom Wolf on a budget already.
The $11 billion measure would give the state authority to spend money only through October and would be retroactive to July 1.
To cope with a loss of aid, school districts and counties are spending down reserves or taking out loans, while nonprofit social services agencies and their contractors are laying off employees or borrowing money.
Legislative leaders met with the governor to discuss the budget right after the House passed the stopgap package. The only thing certain was that the governor has not budged on his intention to veto the plan. Wolf has advocated for large increases in public education funding and a shift away from property taxes to pay for public schools. Exiting the meeting, both sides said nothing had changed.
Republicans insist that the Democratic governor is really fighting for higher taxes. “Let’s get working. Let’s get it done”, he said.
But House Democrats referred to it as another delay tactic by their GOP counterparts – like one the House Republicans staged last month when they unsuccessfully tried to override Wolf’s budget veto.
“The current lack of state funding is having dire consequences across the state, but also here locally in Montgomery County”.
Rep. Jordan Harris, D-Philadelphia, said the short-term bill was simply a “bailout” that would temporarily relieve pressure on Republicans to compromise.
Advertisement
“The 800-pound gorilla sitting at the table is going to be some very, very hard revenue-enhancing votes that will have to be done along with this budget, and that’s what we keep avoiding here”, said Allegheny County Rep. Joe Markosek, the Appropriations Committee’s ranking Democrat.
