It’s that time of year, folks. Former Phillies skipper Charlie Manuel referred to the summer as “hitting season.” In Harrisburg, it’s budget season.
When the legislature reconvenes next week they’re coming back to revenue surpluses and a mild political climate. Will that translate into an on-time, or dare we say even an early budget?
When Will the Governor sign the State Budget?
- June 22 - 28 (31%)
- After July 4 (22%)
- June 29 - 30 (21%)
- July 1- 4 (13%)
- Before June 21 (12%)
Loading ...Gov. Tom Wolf laid out his budget plan in early February, calling for an increase in spending from the previous year’s budget, while not calling for new broad-based taxes.
GOP leadership balked at Wolf’s push for an increase to making the state’s minimum wage $12 an hour by July and gradually increasing to $15 an hour by 2025, but said they’re willing to play ball on a number of aspects of the proposal, including workforce development.
Wolf has toured the state in recent months pushing his proposal for lawmakers to approve a severance tax on Marcellus Shale natural gas production to finance a number of projects across the state.
Last year, the state House overwhelmingly supported a $32.7 billion spending plan, about $300 million less than what Wolf asked for, but included increases in education funding at all levels and received praise from both sides of the aisle.
Will the state budget be signed in time for the new fiscal year or will this budget discussions more-so resemble those of his earlier in his first term when he did not finalize a budget until 267 days after the deadline?
This poll will be open until 4:00 pm on June 5.
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2 Responses
There is no good reason why a budget submitted months ago has not been passed by this do-nothing (but hate and obstruct) GOP PA legislature.
Personally, I think there will be several things which may extend the Budget process altho I do think it will be signed in early July.
– Restore PA with Republican opposition to the severance tax
– Funding for State Police: from where? Local communities in rural areas?
– Altho a non-starter, Governor Wolf’s original Budget proposal would have transferred monies from dedicated funds to pay for general government operations of DEP and DCNR. The question is where the money will come from.
– Another issue altho not hindering the overall Budget resolution for the next fiscal year is how much of the increased surplus will be actually put into the Rainy Day Fund instead of funding new spending priorities.