Pa. might be the last to reach a budget deal
The commonwealth is one of five states that failed to compromise on a spending plan by July 1, as required.
HARRISBURG - Going on two weeks without a budget - and with no end in sight to the stalemate - Pennsylvania could become the last state in the nation to compromise on a new spending plan.
As of Friday, the commonwealth was one of five states required to pass a budget by July 1 that still had not.
Of them, three have agreed on temporary spending plans to keep services and payments flowing - unlike Pennsylvania, which has lost some of its spending authority.
Gov. Wolf has said that his administration will do everything it can to minimize the impact of a stalemate, but that it is important to him to get a strong final product.
"We have to have a budget, and we will agree on a budget," the first-term Democrat told reporters last week. "I just can't predict how long it's going to take."
On the eve of the budget deadline, Wolf vetoed a Republican-authored spending plan. The lack of a budget has left the state unable to pay contractors, local governments, and social-service organizations.
The slowdown in state funding is akin to what is occurring in Illinois, where a similar impasse means that state is unable to fund some services. Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and North Carolina also haven't agreed on final spending plans, but are operating with temporary ones.
But the national outlook is "changing by the minute," said Arturo Perez, an analyst for the National Conference of State Legislators.
Massachusetts last week passed a negotiated budget, which is awaiting it's governor's signature. Illinois was making headway on a one-month temporary budget during its impasse.
A temporary budget has not yet been seriously considered in Pennsylvania, but may soon be in the mix.
Rep. Dan Truitt (R., Chester) introduced legislation last week allowing for a "temporary emergency budget fund" to enable the state's budget secretary to distribute funds at his discretion - up to the totals in last year's budget.
"Everyone's going to want a little more, but it's better than nothing," Truitt said.
Because stopgap budgets may leave legislators with a lesser "sense of urgency," it is unclear which of the remaining states might be the last to enact a spending plan, said Brian Sigritz, director of state fiscal studies for the National Association of State Budget Officers.
"Most of the states will have budgets finalized within the next month or so," Sigritz said. "We typically see states have budgets finalized by August."
Perez said many factors contribute to timely or untimely budgets. Budget deficits and divided governments are just a few.
Pennsylvania has both of those. Negotiations have been held up by Wolf's push for sales- and income-tax increases, property-tax relief, a natural gas severance tax, and millions in new education funding. The Republican-controlled legislature has focused on resolving the state's soaring pension problem and privatizing the state's liquor system.
In Pennsylvania, Wolf's veto of the entire budget, by month's end, will halt funding to nonprofit groups and others that rely on state funds. State employees are continuing to receive paychecks because of a court ruling during Pennsylvania's 101-day stalemate in 2009.
With that issue solved for Pennsylvania, it remains to be seen whether negotiations will end in weeks - as both the governor and legislative leadership hope - or months.
"It's the same thing every year," said Eric Epstein, cofounder of watchdog group Rock the Capital. "And this is on the executive side and the legislative side. We wait until June and then we're in a rush. We're in a hurry to cobble together a pedestrian budget that doesn't do too much harm."