Lawmakers to Wolf: Restore funds
Gov. Tom Wolf vetoed parts of the overdue budget Tuesday.
The Republican-controlled Senate passed the package last Wednesday, which would have ended the budget stalemate.Local representatives want to see funding restored.“I implore the governor to sign the bill so we can get money flowing to schools and human services agencies,” state Rep. Doyle Heffley said Monday afternoon. “Counties are borrowing money. Taxpayers are going to have to pay the interest. One man holds the power to end this right now.”Two weeks after the House passed a $30.3 billion spending plan, House Bill 1460, the Republican-controlled Senate voted 33-17 on Wednesday to send it to Wolf.“It’s the third budget we sent the governor,” state Sen. David Argall said. “He vetoed other options in June and in September. There is no doubt this debate has gone on long enough. The sooner he gets this done, the better.”State Rep. Jerry Knowles said Monday, “He needs to stop playing politics and start governing. Schools, counties and social services agencies are fiscal hostages right now.”A 4.5 percent increase over the 2014-15 budget, this proposal offered long-awaited money to schools and social service agencies, but includes hundreds of millions less than what Wolf wanted for both groups.John Hanger, Wolf’s Secretary of Policy and Planning, called the budget “another display of fiscal irresponsibility” on Monday.“The Republican budget underfunds education and uses gimmicks that will actually lead to a $95 million cut in funding for our schools,” Hanger said. “Republicans continue to refuse to adequately fund Pre-K through 12 education and their budget fails to fund over $305 million in school construction reimbursements. Instead they propose to pay for school construction by issuing billions in debt.”House Republicans said the budget calls for a $100 million increase for Basic Education Funding, a $50 million increase for Ready-to-Learn block grants, a $25 million increase for Pre-K Counts, a $5 million increase for Head Start and a $30 million increase for special education.“The budget before him is a reasonable compromise at this point,” Knowles said Monday.The House GOP majority balked on a $30.8 billion budget supported by Wolf and Senate leaders after a related pension reform bill was rejected.Senate Bill 1073 included a $1 billion-plus tax increase that would have pumped $350 million in new funding into Pennsylvania’s school districts, compared to $150 million in the current proposal.While Heffley said he’s not completely satisfied with every part of the budget, he won’t support the level of tax increase Wolf wants to implement.Panther Valley School District stands to see the most new funding in the area. Under House Bill 1460, it would receive $195 per student, but would have received $363 per student under Senate Bill 1073.This is a realistic outcome for Heffley.“We’ll be back in January working on (liquor privitization and pension reform),” he said.Wolf is slated to present his 2016-17 budget in 36 days.