Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
Editorials & Other Articles
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Pennsylvania's budget is late. Here's what you need to know about the impasse.
Spotlight PA link: https://www.spotlightpa.org/news/2023/07/late-budget-pennsylvania-impasse-schools-shapiro/
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s state budget is late, and so far there’s no deal in sight. Talks between Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro, the Republican-controlled state Senate, and the narrowly Democratic-controlled state House fell apart last week thanks to a deadlock over whether to include private school vouchers in the spending plan.
Three days after the June 30 deadline, most lawmakers are back in their districts. While the House is planning a voting session for Wednesday, the Senate has yet to schedule a return to Harrisburg.
The state budget is necessary to set spending and collections across Pennsylvania’s government, from levying income taxes, to distributing money to public schools, to handing out tax credits to businesses. The commonwealth will still be able to operate normally for some time without a plan. But if the impasse stretches out long enough, schools and nonprofits such as libraries could face serious budget issues.
- snip -
What’s the holdup?
Sometimes, many factors contribute to a budget stalemate. This year, there’s a single big one: whether to use taxpayer dollars to directly fund student scholarships for private schools. Last week, Senate Republicans announced they had struck a deal with Shapiro on a $45.5 billion budget plan that would include $100 million in funding for a private school voucher program.
Three days after the June 30 deadline, most lawmakers are back in their districts. While the House is planning a voting session for Wednesday, the Senate has yet to schedule a return to Harrisburg.
The state budget is necessary to set spending and collections across Pennsylvania’s government, from levying income taxes, to distributing money to public schools, to handing out tax credits to businesses. The commonwealth will still be able to operate normally for some time without a plan. But if the impasse stretches out long enough, schools and nonprofits such as libraries could face serious budget issues.
- snip -
What’s the holdup?
Sometimes, many factors contribute to a budget stalemate. This year, there’s a single big one: whether to use taxpayer dollars to directly fund student scholarships for private schools. Last week, Senate Republicans announced they had struck a deal with Shapiro on a $45.5 billion budget plan that would include $100 million in funding for a private school voucher program.
- more at link -
Everybody is angry about the Pennsylvania public school funding. Recently the Supreme Court found that our method of funding public schools via county property taxes is illegal (it creates disadvantages in counties with lower tax revenues) and cannot continue. Of course the Repukes see an opportunity to turn everything upside down. It's going to take a long time to straighten this out.
