Scaffolding is set up in Pennsylvania's House of Representatives so that workers can fix damage from a water leak on the ceiling, Friday, Feb. 2, 2024, in Harrisburg, Pa. Normally, the House chamber would host Gov. Josh Shapiro's budget address to a joint session of the state House and Senate on Tuesday, but instead Shapiro will deliver his address in the Capitol Rotunda. (AP Photo/Marc Levy)
Scaffolding is set up in Pennsylvania's House of Representatives so that workers can fix damage from a water leak on the ceiling, Friday, Feb. 2, 2024, in Harrisburg, Pa. Normally, the House chamber would host Gov. Josh Shapiro's budget address to a joint session of the state House and Senate on Tuesday, but instead Shapiro will deliver his address in the Capitol Rotunda. (AP Photo/Marc Levy)
Pennsylvania lawmakers are late to pass the annual budget… again.
The deadline was June 30 and lawmakers are still working to get the bill to Gov. Josh Shapiro’s desk.
A key point of contention is Shapiro’s plan to use $3 billion from the state’s surplus to help fund his $48.3 billion budget. Some GOP leaders say that would drain the surplus.
The Republican-controlled Senate is scheduled to be in session until Sunday, taking a day off on July 4.
The Democratic-controlled House is set to be in from Monday to Wednesday.
The budget has yet to leave the House.
Regardless, Senate leaders have expressed belief the budget could come together this week.
“I am encouraged by the progress that has been made over the last several days,” Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman, R-Indiana, said last week. “And while I do not believe the work that is before us can be completed on June 30th, I am quite confident that we have movement significant enough to allow the pieces of a budget puzzle to come together shortly after the constitutional deadline of June 30th.”
Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa, D-Allegheny, echoed some of Pittman’s comments.
“I think it’s important that we continue this dialogue and continue the positive movement that is taking place among the caucuses and among the chambers and the governor’s office,” he said.
Pittman warns about using the surplus amid higher rates of inflation.
“The surplus we have, the rainy day fund we have, while it’s healthy and while we’re in the best fiscal position we have been in since the late ‘90s, those are one-time dollars,” he said. “As I talked about a little earlier, the inflationary pressures are real.”
The inflation rate was 3.3% in May, which is down compared to 4% the previous year and 8.6% in 2022.
Another key point of disagreement lies in education funding. Shapiro proposed $1.1 billion toward basic education.
Pennsylvania’s system of funding of schools is so bad, the Commonwealth Court ruled it was unconstitutional in February 2023.
Last year, Republican lawmakers attempted to add a $100 million school voucher into the budget.
It was ultimately line-item vetoed by Shapiro, but in June, the Senate Education Committee moved a bill creating a similar program, known as Lifeline, to the floor.
In an interview with WITF in May, House Appropriations Chair Jordan Harris, D-Philadelphia, said they need to address the court’s ruling first before funding other forms of education.
“Once we address the constitutionality issue, then we can have discussions and conversations about other things and other forms of education.”
Though the impasse is early and effects have yet to be noticed, Mackenzie Christ, marketing and communications director for the Pennsylvania School Boards Association, said there are consequences for not adopting a budget on time.
“With such uncertainty at the state level, school leaders were left to make guesses about what the final budget and funding system could look like.”
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