PA Budget Remains Unsigned As Impasse Over Education Continues

HARRISBURG, PA — Lawmakers have approved Pennsylvania’s $45 billion spending plan for next year, but it remains tied up after some legislators balked at Gov. Josh Shapiro’s vow to scrap a portion of the budget.

The state budget is more than two weeks late, and the state is operating without full spending authority. Some Republican Senate members refused to return to the Capitol after Shapiro vowed to veto a state-funded private school voucher proposal. And if they don’t reconvene the chamber, the state’s lieutenant governor cannot sign the budget bill and send it to the governor.

The dispute is over creating a $100 million program to allocate state subsidies for students in the lowest performing districts to attend private or religious schools. Shapiro had publicly supported the voucher plan, but then said he would ax it in exchange for state House Democrats' support, as Spotlight PA reported.

The voucher would give up to $10,000 to families to use for private school, the Associated Press reported. An eligible student must attend one of the state’s 15 percent lowest-performing schools, based on standardized test scores, and come from a family that makes under 250 percent of the federal poverty level, or $75,000 for a family of four.

“Its inclusion as part of this budget would lead to the most ambitious and beneficial school reform measure in decades,” Minority Leader Rep. Bryan Cutler, R-Lancaster, said in a statement.

If the impasse continues, it could lead to some public services running out of money.

The budget still in limbo includes about $800 million for public education, significantly less than what Democrats wanted. The state’s poorest districts will split $100 million through a program designed to help them close some of the gap between them and more affluent districts.

The budget also includes about $600 million in aid for Penn State, Temple University and the University of Pittsburgh, which is further being held up.

While Shapiro said he would use his line-item veto to kill the voucher program to keep from hitting an impasse last week, he pushed House Democratic leadership to consider alternatives, like vouchers and the tax credit program while working to reach constitutional compliance.

Even with that promise, Senate Republicans have called on Shapiro to sign the budget bill without nixing the program. The chamber has adjourned until September, with key pieces of the budget unresolved. There is still legislation needed to direct how the money in the budget can be spent — including for some of Shapiro’s and House Democrats’ priorities.

And the Democratic party will again be one vote short of a majority when they return, as a state representative has announced her resignation.

On Wednesday, Rep. Sara Innamorato (D-Allegheny) told Spotlight PA that she had resigned from office to focus on her campaign for Allegheny County executive.

Related articles:

• Shapiro School Budget 'A Step Backwards' For Poor Students: Advocates
• PA Speaker Of The House Mark Rozzi Resigns, Joanna McClinton Elected

This article contains reporting from the Associated Press.