• The House added two session days to work on the budget, while the Senate recessed until the call of its president.
• Key disagreements include the overall spending amount, the use of rainy day funds, and revenue from legalizing marijuana and skill games.
• The Democrat-led House passed a $53.3 billion budget in April, which the Republican-controlled Senate has not acted on.

The Pennsylvania House of Representatives added two session days to its calendar this week while the Senate took off for an early holiday as another state budget will not be finalized on time.

House Speaker Joanna McClinton added voting sessions for 11 a.m. July 1 and 9:30 a.m. July 2. Senate Republicans voted to return at the call of President Pro Tempore Judy Ward, frustrating some Democrats.

More: Pennsylvania’s budget is due June 30. Will lawmakers make it?

Changes to the calendar throughout the year are routine, McClinton’s press secretary, Nicole Reigelman, told USA TODAY Network Pennsylvania. “Nothing specific led to it,” she said.

A late budget would mark the fifth time in as many years elected state officials missed the statutorily mandated June 30 deadline. Last year, it was not signed until Nov. 12.

“We’re walking out the door while the House is in session the next two days and the governor is in place to work with us here to get this done,” Sen. Vincent Hughes, a Democrat from Philadelphia, said on the Senate floor before voting against the recess that Republicans passed.

The Senate is not scheduled to return to session until Sept. 28. After July 2, the House’s next scheduled return is also Sept. 28. Both chambers could be called back at any time.

“I am highly confident we are well on track to deliver a responsible budget that will recognize our unique status as a divided government and deliver a responsible product to the people of Pennsylvania with no negative impacts,” Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman, a Republican who represents Indiana County, said on the Senate floor. “There’s no reason we can’t conclude our work early next week.”

Minority Leader Jay Costa, a Democrat from Allegheny County, disagreed and said returning July 5 would be inappropriate.

“Some may characterize talks as hopeful and seem to be coming together,” Costa said from the floor. “Based on my recent conversations, that doesn’t seem to be the case.”

But a budget could be getting close, according to one Republican state representative who requested anonymity. “There’s going to be very little policy in the budget,” the representative told USA TODAY Network Pennsylvania. “I take it to mean that there aren’t going to be major policy changes and negotiations will center around dollars and cents.”

The House passed a $53.3 billion budget plan in April with a bipartisan vote, but the Republican-controlled Senate has not acted on it. It would cost roughly 5.6% more than the state spent in the fiscal year that ends June 30.

“The Senate hasn’t passed a budget,” Reigelman said. “We’re proud that we got them something more than two months ago.”

That budget was performative, according to Republican Senate Majority Caucus Chair Kristin Phillips-Hill, who represents York County.

“It was really cute,” Phillips-Hill told USA TODAY Network Pennsylvania. “There is not enough money from taxpayers to pay for the budget they sent us. To me, that’s completely unacceptable.”

Republican legislators have opposed Gov. Josh Shapiro’s proposal to use $4.7 billion of rainy day funds to balance the budget. GOP leaders in the House and Senate have said excessive spending could downgrade the state’s credit rating and lead to future tax increases.

Pennsylvania’s Independent Fiscal Office projects a worsening deficit for the state that could reach $8.3 billion in three years.

Pittman said in an interview earlier in June that this budget has a “much different feel” since it lacks a big issue hanging over lawmakers the way a debate over mass transit funding lingered in 2025.

“We have an opportunity to pay our bills and reduce the deficit we’re facing and hopefully not dip into reserves any more than is absolutely necessary,” Pittman said June 26 in an interview on Indiana County radio station WCCS 101.1FM.

Proposals in the budget include new revenue from legalizing recreational marijuana and skill games. The state Legislature has until mid-October to decide if Pennsylvania will allow skill games after the state Supreme Court ruled on June 15 that they are illegal.

“The question is, how, given the Supreme Court ruling where they said these are slot machines, how do you delineate that taxation approach?” Pittman asked during his interview. “If we don’t do anything, these machines are gone. Period.”

State oversight for skill games would include licensing and regulations through the state’s Gaming Control Board. Slot machines in a casino are taxed at 52%, Pittman said.

The Independent Fiscal Office maintains that Shapiro’s revenue estimates for recreational marijuana and skill games exceed their own estimates by $4.4 billion over the next three fiscal years.

Mark Walters is the USA TODAY Network Pennsylvania statehouse reporter. Reach him atmwalters@usatodayco.com.

• A new poll shows Helena Foulkes leading Gov. Dan McKee by 20 points in the Democratic primary for governor.
• McKee has narrowed the gap from a 34-point deficit in April, following a series of TV attack ads.
• The poll indicates McKee remains unpopular among likely Democratic primary voters, with 56% holding an unfavorable opinion of him.
• In a hypothetical general election, Foulkes holds a significant lead, while a McKee nomination could result in a close three-way race.

PROVIDENCE – Former CVS executive Helena Foulkes still leads Gov. Dan McKee by double-digits in the Democratic primary race for governor, but her whopping 34-point lead of last April has shrunk to 20 points in the wake of McKee’s TV attack ads, according to a new University of New Hampshire Survey Center poll.

The survey sampled 337 likely 2026 Democratic state primary voters, 145 likely Republican state primary voters and 664 likely general election voters between June 18 and June 23.

Among the key findings of the survey:

If the Democratic primary had been held while the survey was underway, 42% of likely primary voters would have chosen Foulkes and 22% would have chosen McKee, with restaurant owner Gregory Stevens and Wil Gregersen each getting 1%, the poll said. Thirty-one percent of respondents were undecided.

“Pluralities of moderates (46%), liberals (46%), and progressives (46%) support Foulkes, while two-thirds of socialists (66%) are undecided. McKee does best among those aged 65 and older (31%) but still trailsFoulkes (46%) among this group,” according to this poll.

McKee has narrowed the gap somewhat since the last UNH poll in April, when 45% of likely primary voters chose Foulkes and only 11% McKee.