Pennsylvania delays $1.7B in payments amid budget stalemate

(Harrisburg) — Democratic Governor Tom Wolf will delay more than $1.7 billion in payments due to Medicaid insurers and school districts amid an unprecedented cash crunch.

Wolf’s office issued a brief statement Friday, the day the state’s main bank account was scheduled to dip below zero.

More delayed payments are expected while the Republican-controlled Legislature is embroiled in a three-month stalemate over how to plug a projected $2.2 billion budget hole.

It is first known time that Pennsylvania state government has missed a payment as a result of not having enough cash. Wolf has spending authority under a nearly $32 billion budget bill lawmakers overwhelmingly passed June 30.

But state Treasurer Joe Torsella and Auditor General Eugene DePasquale are refusing to authorize a short-term loan during the stalemate.