PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — We’re two weeks into the new fiscal year but Pennsylvania still doesn’t have a budget in place. Both the state House and Senate passed a general budget bill, but it remains in limbo until Senate leaders sign off on it. There’s no indication when that might happen.
A major hang-up in the budget process: Senate Republicans added $100 million for private school tuition vouchers for students in the lowest performing public schools at the 11th hour. When House Democrats balked at that proposal, Gov. Josh Shapiro agreed to line-item veto vouchers to get the budget bill in place.
Senate Republicans believe Shapiro betrayed them, as they said they had an agreement with the governor. But House Democratic leader Matt Bradford of Montgomery County said that’s not the way he heard the conversation.
“In fact, it’s contrary to everything that I heard in those meetings,” he said, “which was, while the governor was open and willing to support the voucher proposal, House Democrats were not, and there was no deal until the House Democrats were on board.”
RELATED
Bradford respects the governor’s stance on vouchers and said he’s open to discussions, but not in a last-minute amendment.
Senate Republicans declined requests for an interview.
Senate majority leader Joe Pittman sent Bradford a letter earlier this week that said the process isn’t complete until there’s supporting legislation in place to define how money in the budget is spent.
Bradford, however, said they have had “good faith discussions” about what those bills will look like. He said signing off on the general appropriations bill after it passed both chambers is simply a formality.
Related
Related
