Pa. House Adjourns With No Budget

Editor’s note: This story originally published Dec. 23 but was edited Dec. 24.

HARRISBURG, PA - The Pennsylvania state budget stalemate looks set to continue through the Christmas holiday.

Leaders in the House adjourned for the day on Wednesday afternoon, and most lawmakers are on their way home for Christmas vacation, PennLive reports.

As recently as Tuesday evening, it was reported that the House could be drawing close to a vote on a “framework” of a bill, according to Fox 43.

Majority Leader Dave Reed even said on Wednesday that most House members were under the assumption that a pension reform and tax package had been agreed upon, CBS 3 reports. But no vote took place before adjournment Wednesday afternoon.

The historic stalemate in passing the state budget has raised fury on both sides of the aisle, with Governor Wolf warning he will veto a stopgap measure if such a proposal reaches his desk due to the “devastating consequences” that would result.

Such consequences include a $455M cut to school funding, the furlough of 8,000 state employees and a nearly $50M cut to human service programs, the governor said.

In a letter to members of the state Senate, Governor Wolf did not mince words. “Let me be clear, I will veto this bill if it reaches my desk,” Wolf said in reference to a Senate bill that calls for a stopgap bugdet.

“It is important that we all recognize the devastating consequences of this stopgap budget if it were enacted,” Wolf said in the letter.

According to the governor, the following immediate consequences will result from a stopgap budget:

• The furlough of 8,000 commonwealth employees with the biggest impact on Corrections and Probation and Parole and the State Police.
• $455 million cut to our schools, compared to the previous year. This will lead to further program cuts and layoffs.
• $47.5 million cut to county human service programs
• $100 million cut to Home and Community Services, denying over 2,150 individuals with disabilities and autism the opportunity to remain in their homes.
• $8 million cut to vocational rehabilitation, which will lead to the forfeiture of $30 million in federal funding.

If lawmakers don’t decide on a budget by midnight, they’ll break the record for the longest time without a budget in Pennsylvania, according to the Associated Press. The previous record was Dec. 23 set in 2003.

Pennsylvania is one of just two states that have not passed a budget for the fiscal year that began July 1. Illinois this week passed a stopgap budget, PennLive.com reports.