'Get Back To Harrisburg' Gov. Demands To Lawmakers

Hours after announcing a partial veto of a Republican-backed $30.3 billion state budget, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf called on lawmakers to “get back to Harrisburg” and resolve what has become an epic battle.

During a Tuesday morning press conference, Wolf announced a partial veto of the spending plan that was put forth by legislators just ahead of the Christmas holiday.

In a statement later Tuesday, Wolf chided lawmakers for pushing what he called “an irresponsible budget” that cuts key education funding and does not fully pay for other items.

Wolf said lawmakers “walked away from a historic bipartisan budget agreement” and instead passed a different spending plan “so they could return home to their districts and take holiday vacations.”

In total, the governor released more than $23.3 billion in funding during Tuesday’s action.

Republicans, meanwhile, offered a much different view of the budget predicament.

Republican Party of Pennsylvania Chairman Rob Gleason said Wolf’s partial veto was an admission of a “multi-billion dollar mistake.” In a statement issued Tuesday, Gleason said Wolf used schools and nonprofits “as political pawns” during the seven-month budget battle.

“When Tom Wolf issued a complete veto of the Republicans’ on-time budget last June, he needlessly plunged our school districts and non-profits into a six-month crisis. Throughout this year, Tom Wolf has repeatedly made special interests his top priority. It is tragic that so many schools and non-profits were faced with unpaid bills, layoffs and even closures because Tom Wolf used them as political pawns in his reckless budget game,” Gleason said.

State Sen. Bob Mensch (R-24), who represents parts of Bucks and Montgomery counties, said he was pleased the governor “relented” and released critical funding. ”Rape crisis centers have been forced to turn away victims. I’m glad the Governor has had a change of heart,” Mensch said in a statement.

Wolf asserts his resistance to the Republican’s spending plan is because it is fiscally unbalanced and, further, does not uphold appropriate funding for schools and social services.

“This budget is wrong for so many reasons, but especially because it does not balance, increases our deficit and fails to invest in our schools and our future,” Wolf said, adding the budget put forward by the legislature uses “gimmicks” to cut school funding.

Click here to read Wolf’s full statement on the budget.