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WILKES-BARRE — Gov. Tom Wolf will hold a news conference Tuesday to discuss his budget proposal — for 2017.
As required by the administrative code, which says the governor has to deliver an annual budget by the end of the first full week of February, Wolf will discuss next year’s budget some 224 days after his first budget proposal was due and has not yet passed.
Wolf, a Democrat, and the Republican-controlled legislature have not been able to come to an agreement on the proposed $30.8 billion state budget.
According to an Associated Press story, Senate Democratic leader Jay Costa said in an interview Monday it’s unclear how lawmakers will move forward because they “are in uncharted territory.”
The same story reported Republican Sen. Randy Vulakovich says the situation is shameful and state government lacks people willing to compromise.
While Wolf delivers his budget proposal for the fiscal year beginning July 1, he and the legislature are still at odds over billions in the current fiscal year.
State Sen. Lisa Baker, R-Lehman Township, said this budget address is unlike any other in Pennsylvania’s experience.
“Having to draw up a new budget when billion-dollar holes remain in the current budget is a challenge of unprecedented proportion,” Baker said. “Gov. Wolf’s aggressive plans for funding state government and the tax increases necessary to pay for them failed to garner sufficient support among legislators or taxpayers.”
Baker said, “It is sensible and responsible” to resolve the unfinished business from last year before beginning to fairly evaluate the requests for the coming fiscal year.
“How deep and broad the inclinations are for settling seem still to be determined,” Baker said.
On the Democratic side, Sen. John Yudichak, D-Plymouth Township, said Pennsylvania is “in uncharted and wholly unacceptable territory” when a governor has to propose a new budget without finishing the current fiscal year budget. He said while a budget is in place to fund most government functions for this year, it remains out of balance due to the governor’s blue line veto of several budget items.
“The paralysis of partisanship has to end in Harrisburg and responsible leaders must work together to address the fiscal reality of a $1.8 billion structural deficit and a mandated spending increase of $1.9 billion in human services, corrections and pension payments,” Yudichak said. “Taxpayers of Pennsylvania deserve a state government that is accountable for every dollar it spends and every leader, Democrat and Republican, should focus their efforts on finishing the job.”
Yudichak said legislators and the governor need to deliver a fiscally responsible budget that addresses a structural deficit “that threatens to erode every important investment we make in jobs, education, health care and the environment.”
Wolf said his 2017 budget invests in schools, meets critical human service needs, fully funds pension and debt obligations and eliminates the structural budget deficit.
“We must choose a path that funds our schools, eliminates our deficit, and puts Pennsylvania back on track,” Wolf said. “It is time for us to finish the job and restore Pennsylvanians’ shaken faith in their government.”
State Rep. Gerald Mullery, D-Newport Township, said given the failure to compromise, he welcomes new discussion on this year’s budget.
“We have proven we have the ability to work together to move the commonwealth forward,” Mullery said. “Last year, a bill implementing a bi-partisan budget framework passed the Senate, 43-7. It was a single roll call vote away from passage in the House when Republican leadership tabled the bill and left town. That bill had already passed on second reading with bipartisan support. We need a return to that bipartisan approach and the governor’s address tomorrow can reignite those conversations.”
State Rep. Mike Carroll, D-Avoca, said, despite the fact the current year’s budget is incomplete, the governor’s presentation will begin a discussion that will require policy debate.
“Among these budget lines is funding for public education that was funded at less than 50 percent for the current year,” Carroll said.
The Pennsylvania School Boards Association (PSBA) recently conducted a survey with districts to determine what impact the budget impasse has had on them currently and in the future. The results show districts have made difficult decisions and continue to do so — some have had to borrow money, miss payments or halt programs due to the budget impasse.
According to the PSBA, problems for school districts are compounded by the fact that, at the same time they are unsure of what additional funding they will receive for the remainder of the current 2015-16 school year, they are required to be developing their 2016-17 budgets.
Jeff Sheridan, Wolf’s press secretary, said the governor has been fighting to balance the budget, fix the deficit and invest in education at all levels. He said Pennsylvania needs a full, real budget — in 2015-16 and 2016-17 — that addresses these issues in order to move the commonwealth forward.
“Pennsylvania is facing a $2 billion budget deficit,” Sheridan said. “This deficit is a dark cloud hanging over the commonwealth’s long-term future. And our schools continue to suffer from the devastating cuts made by the previous administration and Republican-controlled legislature.”
The state Republican Party offered a terse response to Sheridan’s comments.
“Tom Wolf hasn’t even finished the current budget, but that isn’t stopping him from calling for even higher taxes and more spending next year,” said PA GOP Communications Director Megan Sweeney.
