HARRISBURG, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — Sunday is Pennsylvania’s budget deadline, but lawmakers in Harrisburg continue to squabble over key parts of the state’s financial plan.
As the primary budget bill was moved out of the state House Appropriations Committee on Monday, minority chair, York County Republican Seth Grove, said this part of the process should have happened months ago.
And he didn’t hide his frustration with what he sees as a lack of bipartisan cooperation.
“For me, personally, the most disappointing issue that I have are very high hopes we could reach a bipartisan budget deal, unlike last year. I believe we all learned a great deal from last year on how to run this process and get a budget done on time, but apparently we did not.”
Grove has been pushing for “zero-based budgeting,” requiring each agency to start from zero and explain why they need each dollar rather than asking for an increase each year.
But Grove declined to offer an amendment at what he called “this late hour.”
“The Back to Basics plan came out in April, and zero-based budgeting has been around for several sessions, as Republicans have been and will continue to look for a partner who's willing to govern and not play politics, not ram through budget bills with days left in the fiscal year.”
Committee Majority Chairman Jordan Harris, D-Phila., says Grove never made any efforts to start conversations.
“The way that you work in a bipartisan fashion is you pick up the phone and you call people and you talk about working together. I am still waiting the gentleman's call,” Harris said.
“The gentleman has not come to my office to have a conversation about the amendment, or his ideas around it. While I understand his commentary, his actions have not backed up those comments.”
K-12 education spending and taxes remain key sticking points, with Republicans concerned the spending plan would wipe out Pennsylvania’s reserves.
State House and Senate party leaders say they’re more motivated to get the budget done right than to get it done on time. But Grove says “on time” does matter for schools, nonprofits, and government contractors.