HARRISBURG — Amid the threat of school closings, a new effort by Republican lawmakers to complete the unfinished state budget drew criticism Tuesday from Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf and Democratic lawmakers.
The bill’s math doesn’t add up, Wolf said.
“We are looking at a train wreck in 2016-17, a huge deficit if we don’t do something about that,” he said.
However, the governor declined to say whether he again will wield his veto pen until he sees the final legislation.
The $30 billion GOP budget bill for fiscal 2015-16 cleared a first hurdle with passage by the Senate Appropriations Committee on a party-line vote. Votes in both chambers are planned for today.
The measure would provide a $200 million boost in state aid to public schools in fiscal 2015-16 — half the amount the governor seeks — and keep state taxes at existing rates. It would restore funding for Pennsylvania State University agricultural extension offices in each county and 14 critical access hospitals in rural areas, including in Barnes-Kasson County Hospital in Susquehanna County.
However, it would cut spending by $300 million from an earlier GOP-passed budget bill, thus averting the need for a tax or revenue hike, House Majority Leader Dave Reed, R-62, Indiana, said.
The GOP accepted some of Wolf’s line vetoes and found Medicaid savings by getting updated figures on actual case loads, he said.
“We need to get this (2015-16 budget) done,” Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman, R-34, Bellefonte, said, adding that some schools are days away from “running out of money.”
The two GOP leaders said they would like to start negotiations immediately on the fiscal 2016-17 budget once this bill passes. The deadline for the next budget is June 30.
Pennsylvania has operated under a $23 billion partial budget since late December that doesn’t provide enough funding to cover the entire fiscal year through June for public schools, Penn State and three other publicly supported universities and other programs as well.
Wolf vetoed $7 billion from a $30.3 billion GOP budget bill, saying it lacked enough revenue to balance the spending. That bill surfaced after a compromise budget supported by Wolf and three legislative caucuses fell apart on the House floor. Lawmakers couldn’t agree on related issues to curb public pension costs and change the state liquor store system.
“It’s (GOP bill) a joke,” House Minority Leader Frank Dermody, D-33, Allegheny County, said.
He said the GOP found new money for public schools by drawing money from accounts for college student financial aid grants.
A question exists whether the pressure of school closings would draw enough Democratic support for the bill to override a potential Wolf veto.
Dermody said the bill may get some Democratic votes, but others in his caucus are concerned that schools will be in even worse shape for next year if it passes.
Sen. John Blake, D-22, Archbald, said he’s polling school districts in his senatorial district to determine how long they can continue operating with just a half-year of state subsidy payments. He voted against the bill in the appropriations panel.
Carbondale Area School Board approved refinancing nearly $7 million in debt last week, a decision directors attributed to the consequences of the budget impasse.