(The Center Square) – After a one-month standoff, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro signed a $45.5 billion spending plan on Thursday.
It’s still $100 million smaller than it was before he took out his veto pen, canceling plans for a school voucher program he once supported alongside legislative Republicans. That was, until his Democratic allies in the House refused to approve any deal that included the proposal.
“The people of Pennsylvania have entrusted me with the responsibility to bring people together in a divided legislature and to get things done for them – and with this commonsense budget, that’s exactly what we’ve done,” Shapiro said.
In recent weeks, Shapiro brushed off claims of betrayal and cast the blame on Senate Republican leaders who he said acted on a spending bill without the agreement of the lower chamber. He then encouraged lawmakers to fix it amongst themselves.
It’s unclear what thawed between the lawmakers over the last month, though Senate President Kim Ward, R-Greensburg, said any further delay would unfairly strain resources for school districts and county human service agencies.
Besides, there’s more work to be done. Lawmakers must finalize “code bills” that tell the state how to spend the money. Republican leaders said that securing a budget deal only completes 75% of the process.
Programs impacted by the code bills include school tax credits, a transfer to the state’s savings account, federally-funded mental health grants, additional funding for public schools, teacher stipends and hospital and health care relief, among others.
Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman, R-Indiana, said “today is a good day for Pennsylvania taxpayers” because it prevents a disruption in critical funding.
“The general appropriations bill advanced by the Senate is a significant part of our overall budget process, but it needs to be emphasized that is it one piece of a multipiece puzzle to put a comprehensive budget in place for our commonwealth,” he said.
House Democratic leaders likewise released a statement Thursday blaming the Senate for an “irresponsible and unnecessary” delay, saying they “look forward to” the governor’s line-item veto to “free Pennsylvania from this Republican-led crisis.”
“All parties continue to meet to negotiate the few remaining budget related issues and House Democrats will return to session as negotiations are finalized,” the statement concluded.
Both chambers remain adjourned until September.
