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Pennsylvania enters the Fourth of July holiday with a budget agreement still a work in progress — if there is even any progress.
The state Capitol was a near-ghost town on Monday, the third day of the new fiscal year. Neither spokeswomen for the Democratic-controlled House nor Republican-controlled Senate offered any indication that a budget agreement was any closer at hand than when lawmakers left Harrisburg on Friday.
Gov. Josh Shapiro, who has not made any public appearances in recent days, is scheduled to deliver remarks at 10 a.m. Tuesday at Welcome America’s Ceremony of Freedom in Philadelphia.
Sources familiar with the talks, though, said conversations have been happening behind the scenes although no one reported seeing any resolution at hand to the differences mostly — but not exclusively — over launching a targeted school voucher program for failing schools.
If there’s positive news to be found in this budget standoff, it’s that there is no talk of increasing the state income or sales tax. Along with that, the delay in having a finalized budget won’t be felt as long as an agreement is worked out in the next couple of weeks. State government employees will continue to be paid regardless if a budget is in place.
On Friday, the Senate passed a $45.5 billion spending plan that included $100 million for the voucher plan, called the Pennsylvania Award for Student Success Scholarship Program, or PASS. This program would provide up to $15,000 in state-funded accounts for students from households with incomes that fall under 250% of the federal poverty line — or $75,000 for a family of four — and who live in the attendance area of one of the state’s 15% worst performing schools to attend a nonpublic school.
Leaders of the House Democratic majority made it clear on Friday their caucus was open to discussion but would not be moving a standalone bill authorizing a voucher plan even though that plan had the support of Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro.
“Until the governor and House Democrats reconcile their differences on the PASS initiative, the Senate has completed its work,” said Senate Republican spokeswoman Kate Flessner on Monday.
House Democratic spokeswoman Beth Rementer said Monday evening members of the House will return to voting session at noon Wednesday.
House GOP Leader Bryan Cutler of Lancaster County said his caucus stands ready to talk but has yet to be invited. Senate Democratic leaders called the budget plan crafted by their Republican colleagues and Shapiro as unfinished.
The Senate-passed budget spends more than $1 billion more than the $46.4 billion one the House passed in June. In March, Shapiro’s budget proposal called for spending $45.8 billion when adding the $1.4 billion for state police funding he wanted to set aside in a special fund. The state’s general fund budget in the fiscal year that ended on Friday spent $44.1 billion when federal stimulus dollars are included.
Even Shapiro wasn’t completely on board with the Senate budget. His press secretary Manuel Bonder said on Friday, “While this bill reflects many of the key priorities the governor has been fighting for — including historic investments in public education, universal free breakfast for public school students, first-time funding for public defenders, and critical funding for public safety, mental health, and economic development — it does not represent a final agreement.”
As the budget negotiations continue, policymakers now have a better picture of the state’s revenue situation. Pennsylvania’s general fund collections ended the last fiscal year on a positive note.
According to the state Department of Revenue, the state’s general fund collections for the last fiscal year totaled $44.9 billion. That was $1.3 billion, or 3.1% above its estimate, and $2.73 billion, or 6.5%, above what the state’s Independent Fiscal Office anticipated for the year. Additionally, the state has about $13 billion sitting in reserve funds.
Pennsylvania, meanwhile, has some company in not having its 2023-24 budget finalized. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, Ohio and North Carolina join the Keystone State — out of the 46 states that operate on a July 1 to June 30 fiscal year— in having begun the fiscal year without an enacted budget.
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