Lancaster County lawmakers set priorities before contentious June budget negotiations

• By Jaxon White/LNP | LancasterOnline

June is poised to be state lawmakers’ busiest month of the year.

Monday is the first of 11 planned session days in June, when both chambers of the General Assembly will meet in Harrisburg. The Senate even preemptively scheduled rare weekend voting sessions on June 29 and 30.

But in between committee hearings and casting floor votes on pending legislation, a select group of party leaders will also negotiate a state budget with Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro for the fiscal year 2024-25, trying to strike a deal before the June 30 deadline.

Among those leaders are Lancaster County Republican state Sens. Ryan Aument and Scott Martin, their chamber’s whip and Appropriations Committee chairman, respectively.

In February, following Shapiro’s annual address, both lawmakers condemned the governor’s proposed $48.3 billion budget — particularly his pitch to spend about $3 billion of the state’s $14 billion reserves, which they said is not sustainable long-term. Republicans also continued to criticize much of Shapiro’s plan through spring budget hearings.

Heading into the fiscal year’s final weeks, Aument, of West Hempfield Township, provided a list of policies he hopes to enact, all while advocating for a “fiscally responsible budget.”

Those policies include the Senate’s $3 billion personal income tax reduction from 3.07% to 2.8%, pitched as an alternative to Shapiro’s $3 billion of spending from the state’s reserves; accelerating the corporate net income tax reduction; and adopting net operating loss reforms.

Aument also said he plans to push some of his proposed education reforms, including a bill requiring students to obtain parental permission to access books considered sexually graphic and pitches to address mental health and academic performances, such as a new grant program for schools that limit student access to smartphones and social media during schools hours.

Martin, of Martic Township, leads the Appropriations Committee, which has first say over amending any budget-related bills before they can reach the chamber for a vote. He said his focus this month will be to complete a budget that “respects taxpayers and addresses the pressing economic and demographic challenges facing our state.”

He said toward the top of his list of priorities is passing the Senate’s “Grow PA” plan, which includes proposals to create new grant programs for university and trade school students, as well as expand existing ones.

Martin said he’ll also continue to fight for the private school voucher program that sparked a more than five-month budget delay last year.

“We cannot continue to spend billions more on public schools that continue to fail students without adding a real sense of accountability to the system,” Martin said. “Introducing competition is the ultimate form of accountability.”

Education funding is primed to be the biggest hurdle for lawmakers to overcome this year.

Shapiro called for $1.86 billion in new money for preschool and K-12 education, a historic amount inspired by the Commonwealth Court’s ruling early last year that Pennsylvania’s funding of public schools was unconstitutionally inequitable.

Enter state Rep. Mike Sturla, a Democrat from Lancaster city and one of the longest-serving lawmakers in Harrisburg.

He chaired a bipartisan Basic Education Funding Commission that was charged with creating a plan to fund public schools equitably. Democrats on the commission, following a series of hearings across the state, passed a report suggesting at least $5.4 billion in direct aid to K-12 schools over the coming seven years.

Though he won’t have a seat at the table during budget talks, Sturla said working toward the commission’s recommendations is his only priority this year and that he will lobby his caucus’s leaders to fight for the commission’s report.

“There’s only one thing that we are charged to do in the Constitution and that is to provide for an effective and efficient form of public education,” Sturla said. “We want to use this money effectively. This isn’t just a blank check to school districts.”

Republicans have advocated for more accountability measures to be included in any education funding package. Sturla said his proposal with other Democrats on the commission, which hasn’t been introduced as a bill yet, will include some regulations for how the school uses the funds they are given.

State Rep. Bryan Cutler, the former House Speaker from Drumore Township, also will be a key player in budget talks this year through his role as caucus leader. He said Democrats’ education spending is “unsustainable” and excessive.

Cutler said his focus this year is to address constituents’ concerns about the economy’s inflation and rising food prices by supporting the Senate’s proposed income tax cut.

“I have major concerns that a complete budget will be done on time,” Cutler said, pointing to the dearth of major budget proposals introduced as formal bills.

Skill games

While not in an official leadership position, state Sen. Chris Gebhard, a Lebanon County lawmaker whose district covers a sliver of northern Lancaster County, is also positioned to play a pivotal role in this year’s budget fight due to one issue: skill games.

Skill games are similar to slot machines and appear in some of Pennsylvania’s bars, restaurants and convenience stores. Current law does not mandate their taxation as is required of slot machines. Gebhard said he will likely oversee any skill game legislation as chair of the Community, Economic & Recreational Development Committee.

According to Spotlight PA, lawmakers who have found themselves at the center of negotiations often face extensive lobbying campaigns by the major involved industries, including casinos, the video gaming terminal industry and the makers of the skill games.

“We need someone to sit in the middle of that table to help guide and negotiate that discussion,” Gebhard said. “I think we all agree that the status quo can’t continue.”

Gebhard said settling on a tax rate will fill much of those negotiations. Shapiro’s budget seeks to raise tens of millions of dollars by taxing skill games at 42%.

Lawmakers’ wish lists

With a slim 102-100 majority in the House, including one vacancy, individual members also will hold some leverage over top party brass to work their proposals into a budget package.

State Rep. Izzy Smith-Wade-El, a Lancaster city Democrat, said he’ll focus on advancing policies to help Pennsylvanians find affordable housing, the subject of many of his policy proposals in Harrisburg.

He wants to boost the PA Housing Affordability Fund and refund the Whole Home Repairs program. He said he also hopes to help steer legislation to fund a tenant’s right to counsel onto the governor’s desk.

Asked by LNP | LancasterOnline what their policy goals were this budget season, Reps. Brett Miller, of East Hempfield Township; Mindy Fee, of Manheim Borough; Tom Jones, of East Donegal Township; and Dave Zimmerman, of East Earl Township, overwhelmingly expressed opposition to Shapiro’s total spending number.

Jones said he, too, is looking to lower the personal income and corporate net income taxes. Zimmerman agreed, saying those tax reductions, coupled with permitting and regulatory reform, could help boost the state’s economy.

State Rep. Steve Mentzer, of Manheim Township, said he wants to keep the state’s spending in check, but it’s a worthy investment to put money into the state’s Medicaid program to fund staffing in retirement homes.

Meanwhile, State Rep. Keith Greiner, a certified public accountant from Upper Leacock Township, said the long-term ramifications of letting the state pull from its savings could throw it into debt.

“We need to get that spending number down closer to what inflation is,” Greiner said, citing Shapiro’s proposed 7% increase in spending this year from last year.