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Tags Posts tagged with "PA State Budget"

PA State Budget

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By John Finnerty
Capitolwire.com Bureau Chief

HARRISBURG (June 30) – The race to finish the state budget begins with a staring contest – Senate Republicans on Thursday passed a controversial but potentially historic school voucher bill that House Democrats say they won’t take up.

Both chambers recessed Thursday without taking further action on the budget, leaving the spending plan and related code bills unfinished as the time before the deadline to get a plan in place dwindles to hours.

Of course, missing the June 30 deadline is hardly unprecedented. Last year’s budget was eight days late and former Gov. Tom Wolf’s first budget resulted in an impasse that dragged on for months – it wasn’t finally resolved until March.

Senate Republicans have been pressing to get the provisions in House Bill 479 included in the budget and Gov. Josh Shapiro has repeatedly said he supports the concept while saying he thinks any move to allow vouchers must also include a number of other initiatives to better-fund and otherwise improve public schools.

The Senate approved HB 479 (after amending the voucher language into a House bill aimed at changing the reimbursements for ambulance trips) on a mostly party-line vote. The Democrat who supported the bill was Sen. Anthony Williams, D-Philadelphia. Williams delivered a fiery speech on the Senate floor in defense of his support of the measure, saying he’d been targeted in the primaries over his support of school choice options for family but won re-election decisively nonetheless.

Williams, like Republican proponents, said his support of the measure was focused on providing opportunities for families who feel trapped by unsafe or otherwise failing public schools.

Under the measure, families that live in poor performing school districts would be eligible for state-funded scholarships — $5,000 a year for students in grades K-8; $10,000 for high school students; and $15,000 for special needs students – that could be used to pay private school tuition.

The legislation would provide $100 million in scholarships.

But House Democrats insist that the measure won’t get a vote in that chamber and if it did it would fail, despite Democrats narrow 102-101 majority in that chamber.

House Majority Leader Matt Bradford, D-Montgomery, said his caucus is “united” in opposition to the bill.

“There are not the votes for it, it’s not coming up and, if it comes up, it will be defeated,” Bradford told reporters late Thursday.

Bradford blamed the impasse on Senate Republicans who have yet to move any budget-related bills. The House passed a spending plan in early June.

But House Republican leaders said House Democrats are causing the impasse by their unwillingness to compromise to get a budget deal in place.

“They are hell-bent on passing a budget with 102 votes. If they don’t move off that position, we may never get a budget,” said Rep. Seth Grove, R-York, the Republican chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.

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Lawmakers return to Harrisburg to begin the monthlong process of crafting and passing a final state spending plan for the 2022/23 fiscal year. The next few weeks are crucial.

Lawmakers need to hear from you right now! Contact your state senator and representative and tell them to increase funding to support human services professionals, so individuals and families in need get the assistance and care they deserve.

Pennsylvania has billions of state dollars in surplus, plus additional federal money, but it remains unspent as the needs of our most vulnerable residents go unmet.

Over the past few months, our coalition has sent more than 6,000 messages to the General Assembly and administration. We aired TV commercials and shared our message on social media. We rallied at the Capitol Building in Harrisburg. We have been seen and heard.

But all that matters now is what happens during these next few weeks as the budget is finalized. There is no slowing down now. Use this link to learn how you can help and urge your networks to do the same. Most importantly, if you haven’t already, take action today.

This workforce crisis is affecting our most vulnerable individuals and families, as well as the providers and professionals who serve them. Lawmakers have a big role to play in solving this problem. But they need to hear from you. Thank you for your continued support; now, let’s finish strong!

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The Pennsylvania budget is set to be completed towards the end of this week. On Monday, June 24, the House voted HB 790, the state general fund budget bill, out of the House Appropriations Committee. The House will take a final floor vote on HB 790 today and it will then go over to the Senate. The Senate is expected to take a final vote on HB 790 on Thursday, June 26.

After the House voted the general fund budget bill out of committee yesterday, the House released the 2019–20 General Fund Budget House Appropriations Analysis, the 2019–20 Budget General Fund Appropriations Spreadsheets, and the General Fund Financial Statement.

Yesterday, the Senate voted HB 33, the Health and Human Service Code bill, out of the Senate Health and Human Service Committee on a party line vote. HB 33 eliminated the general assistance fund for the disabled, and the bill should have a final vote on Wednesday. SB 695 is another Health and Human Service Code bill, which is on Second Consideration in the House.

The other code bills should be finalized sometime this week, but as of late yesterday, the Fiscal Code bill still had numerous issues that need to be resolved. All four caucuses and the Governor’s office continue to work on the Fiscal Code. Contact RCPA Director of Government Affairs Jack Phillips with any questions.

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Terry Madonna interviewed Richard Edley on June 1, 2017, for the political/public policy TV program Pennsylvania Newsmakers. Edley discussed several topics with Mr. Madonna, including the state budget/funding for health and human services, the increasing opioid crisis, and unification of state agencies. Video streaming of the entire program is available here (Richard Edley’s segment begins at 13:00). @terrymadonna

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Yesterday, the General Assembly passed and the governor signed the remaining bills to enact the current fiscal year’s spending plan of $31.5 billion. To pay for the general appropriations bill, the Legislature adopted several tax increases and some new revenue streams. The cigarette tax was increased another $1/pack while e-cigarettes, roll-your-own cigarettes, and smokeless tobacco have now been added as taxable items.

Additionally, lottery winnings will now be assessed a PIT and a sales tax will be imposed on digital downloading of books, music, satellite radio, and streaming audio/video. The tax on table games was also increased by 2%, but will sunset in five years. Revenue streams for the fiscal year are also dependent upon several non-recurring sources; i.e., a number of transfers contained in the fiscal code such as transfers from:

  • The tobacco settlement – $28.5 million;
  • Recycling fund – $9 million;
  • The Building Pennsylvania program – $12 million;
  • The Volunteer Companies Loan Fund – $9 million;
  • The Alternative Fuels Incentive Fund – $5 million; and
  • Several gaming licensure fees.

Please contact Jack Phillips with any questions.

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Early yesterday evening, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives approved the changes made in the Senate by a 144-54 vote and sent SB 1073, the general appropriations (GA) bill, to the governor. The approved GA bill increases spending by $1.5 billion, or an increase of 5%. Even though the General assembly sent the GA bill to the Governor, the House and Senate still must come up with the revenues necessary to pay for the appropriations as set forth in the bill.

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