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Pa. will start the new fiscal year without a budget as Harrisburg's voucher divide persists
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette link: https://www.post-gazette.com/news/politics-state/2023/06/30/pennsylvania-budget-negotiations-senate-republicans-house-democrats-shapiro/stories/202306300118
Senate Republicans passed a $45.55 billion spending plan with a school voucher program that House Democrats have rejected
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania will start the new fiscal year Saturday without an approved state budget after partisan divisions and policy disagreements, especially over a proposed school voucher plan, erased any chance for quick House action on a spending proposal the Senate passed Friday.
The lack of a fiscal 2024 budget will likely have little practical effect on state operations unless it stretches into many weeks. Budgets have been late in past years. For instance, then-Gov. Tom Wolf signed the fiscal 2023 budget on July 8 last year.
It was unclear, though, how quickly Republican and Democratic lawmakers will be able to bridge their differences, especially on the Pennsylvania Award for Student Success, or PASS — a scholarship program that many refer to as a school voucher plan. The Republican-controlled Senate passed a bill Thursday night that set up the program. It then included $100 million in funding for PASS in the $45.55 billion spending bill it approved Friday.
The Friday vote — like the one Thursday night — was 29-21, with Sen. Anthony Williams, D-Philadelphia, joining all Republicans in support. The Senate’s top Republicans said they negotiated closely with Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat who has voiced support for the scholarship concept, on details of the proposed budget.
The lack of a fiscal 2024 budget will likely have little practical effect on state operations unless it stretches into many weeks. Budgets have been late in past years. For instance, then-Gov. Tom Wolf signed the fiscal 2023 budget on July 8 last year.
It was unclear, though, how quickly Republican and Democratic lawmakers will be able to bridge their differences, especially on the Pennsylvania Award for Student Success, or PASS — a scholarship program that many refer to as a school voucher plan. The Republican-controlled Senate passed a bill Thursday night that set up the program. It then included $100 million in funding for PASS in the $45.55 billion spending bill it approved Friday.
The Friday vote — like the one Thursday night — was 29-21, with Sen. Anthony Williams, D-Philadelphia, joining all Republicans in support. The Senate’s top Republicans said they negotiated closely with Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat who has voiced support for the scholarship concept, on details of the proposed budget.
- more at link -
Tick tock, my friends.
