Ray's Round Up: PA State Budget - the Road Trip to Nowhere

 Pennsylvania’s state budget situation has reached the point where it now resembles a nightmare road trip with a dysfunctional family.

While Mom, Dad, and Grandma (in no particular order, the Governor, State Senate, and State House) are arguing about where the family is going, the kids and family pets (social service agencies, schools, government employees, again in no particular order) are hungry and antsy in the back seat, watching the exits roar by.  The kids have their opinions on where they’d like to go on this trip too, but things are getting so bad, the car just needs to come to a destination. Are there any signs we’re slowing down and reach an agreement on where we can stop this year? Or will we continue to travel down this desolate highway, running out of gas and pulling our hair out?

It looked like someone was at least tapping the brakes when the State Senate and the Governor came to an agreement on a general budget framework that was approved by the Senate in a bi-partisan vote of 43-7 on Monday December 7.  But the car went careening down the highway again when the State House did not vote on that agreement, instead approving another version of the budget that the Governor vetoed in June.   The “new” House budget was sent to the Senate – which completely amended the legislation and inserted the budget language already approved by the Senate.

Meanwhile, the annual Pennsylvania Society gathering in New York City from December 11-13 added to the intrigue – would any state leader dare attend the glamorous event without a state budget having been enacted?  Most, including the Governor and almost all members of the State Senate and House, stayed in Harrisburg to continue to negotiate the budget instead of going to New York (although many other Pennsylvania political movers-and-shakers were there).

So this is where things stand as we enter yet another week of negotiations:

• The House is tinkering with the Senate version of the budget in an attempt to make changes that will satisfy its members while not provoking opposition from the Senate and the Governor.
• Numerous social service agencies have laid off workers and stopped providing some services to vulnerable Pennsylvanians.
• A number of school districts have indicated that without state funding they will be unable to re-open beginning in the new year.
• The tension of this political standoff, combined with some other events in the Pennsylvania political world over the last year, have fueled speculation regarding the governmental functionality in the State.
• Everyone impacted by the state budget impasse is hoping for resolution by the end of the year so that our educational system and social services can get up and running again.

“Ray’s Round Up” features updates on current state and federal issues by Ray Landis, AARP PA’s Advocacy Manager.