Pa. lawmakers are still trying to finish the budget 3 months after the deadline

This story originally appeared on Spotlight PA.

Pennsylvania lawmakers are no closer to finalizing the state’s spending plan nearly three months after the deadline, leaving hundreds of millions of dollars for the poorest schools, student mental health grants, and more in limbo.

State House lawmakers returned to Harrisburg this week for the first time since passing the main $45.5 billion budget bill in July. The Democratic majority agreed to support the legislation after securing a commitment from Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, to line-item veto a $100 million private school voucher program championed by Republicans who control the state Senate.

While both the state House and Senate have passed the main budget bill, the chambers have yet to agree on code bills that would authorize state spending on a number of programs favored by state House Democrats, including grants to make houses more energy-efficient and a stipend aimed at enticing more educators to stay in the state.

The state Senate has since advanced legislation that would fund some, but not all, of those priorities.

After two days in session this week, the state House left without considering any of those state Senate bills. The Democratic majority has also yet to put forth its own legislation.

Beth Rementer, spokesperson for state House Majority Leader Matt Bradford (D., Montgomery), said that “conversations with all parties continue in good faith.”

“If those conversations do not bear fruit, the House stands ready to send a comprehensive fiscal code vehicle to the Senate for their consideration in the coming weeks,” Rementer said in a statement to Spotlight PA.

She added that a fiscal code “is not always necessary.”

However, budget secretary Uri Monson told Shapiro and legislative leaders in August that he would not release roughly $1.1 billion for a number of programs without additional legislation from state lawmakers.

Since late August, state Senate Republicans have advanced a handful of bills containing language that would authorize spending on some of the stalled funding items. One includes funding for increased reimbursements for first responders, and would renew judicial fees that courts rely on.

The chamber also passed two education bills. One again proposes to create a $100 million private school voucher program and increase funding for the Educational Improvement Tax Credit, which provides a tax break to corporations or individuals who donate to private school scholarships.

The other bill would allocate tens of millions of dollars in school safety grants to the Commission on Crime and Delinquency — a bipartisan state panel including administration officials, legislators, judges, and law enforcement officials — rather than the Pennsylvania Department of Education. The Shapiro administration supports that effort.

Following the latter’s passage, state Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman (R., Indiana) published an op-ed arguing that “it is time we demonstrate what can be done in divided government instead of what cannot.”

“The Senate continues to act and demonstrate we can move forward with the most basic parameters which make our government function,” Pittman said. “It is past time for the House to come back to session and work with us to solve real problems for the people of Pennsylvania — starting with keeping our students safe.”