Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf allowed the 2015-16 state budget to become law without his signature, but he vetoed broad education funding reforms that were included in the spending plan.

The result gives cash-strapped Pennsylvania school districts only temporary relief from structural deficits and funding challenges."This budget does not solve the state's long-term school funding crisis," the multi-organization Campaign for Fair Education Funding said in a statement.After a 267-day budget impasse that was tied to education spending increases and tax hikes to pay for them, Wolf approved but refused to put his name on a $30 billion spending plan that includes a $200 million increase in education funding. Wolf was seeking a $400 million bump in school aid."I cannot in good conscience sign this bill," Wolf said. "I cannot in good conscience attach my name to a budget that simply does not add up. But to allow us to move on to face budget challenges of 2016-17, I am going to allow HB1801 to become law."With a $2 billion deficit looming next year, the 2015-16 spending plan cuts expenditures by $238 million, but Wolf says it remains $290 million off the mark.While some Pennsylvania school districts were in danger of running out of money before the end of the school year because state funding was frozen during a nine-month budget impasse, landmark education funding measures included in the budget will not be enacted.Districts like the struggling Erie schools were hoping elements of the a basic education funding formula would transform the way schools are funded, with adjustments to account for enrollment numbers, students living in poverty, English language learners, special education students, and charter school enrollment.Last year, the bipartisan Basic Education Funding Commission made recommendations to lawmakers on how to overhaul those funding streams, but those measures were part of a fiscal code Wolf struck down."The governor will veto the fiscal code because it contains unconstitutional provisions, guts important environmental regulations, and tries to establish legislative authority over issues that fall under executive jurisdiction," Wolf spokesman Jeff Sheridan said.Erie is one of the poorest districts in the state, yet receives less funding from Harrisburg that most of Pennsylvania's 500 other districts. The formula would have evened out some of the state school funding.Without a fiscal code, Sheridan said the administration will "work to distribute the funding provided in the general appropriations bill in the most appropriate manner possible." The administration also divvied up funds in December when Wolf signed a partial spending plan.The administration has several objections to the fiscal code, including the insistence that it perpetuates inequitable school funding and does not restore education cuts from 2010-11 when federal stimulus funding expired."This budget does not provide our children with the resources they need to succeed," said Deborah Gordon Klehr, executive director of the Education Law Center. "The General Assembly has once again failed to meet its constitutional responsibility to maintain a system of thorough and efficient education that serves our children."While schools are now on safe ground with their funding streams restored, Pennsylvania taxpayers also came out of the protracted budget battle facing no new taxes."We applaud lawmakers for standing up for taxpayers' interests in the face of immense pressure," said Matthew Brouillette, the president and CEO of the Commonwealth Foundation, a free-market think tank."The message of today's announcement is clear: Pennsylvanians want smarter spending, not more spending fueled by tax hikes. There simply is no appetite for broad-based tax increases. There hasn't been for the past nine months, and there isn't as we move forward into the 2016-17 budget negotiations."Next year's budget talks begin this week and the 2016-17 spending plan is due this summer.