Work by Pennsylvania lawmakers to complete a new budget is extending into the new fiscal year, with Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro and top lawmakers still expressing optimism that closed-door talks are yielding progress, despite the missed deadline.
For Shapiro, it will be his second straight budget that failed to get across the finish line by the constitutional deadline of July 1 in Pennsylvania’s politically divided government.
Shapiro in February floated what he called an “ambitious” $48.3 billion budget plan that relied on about $3 billion in reserve cash to balance it. A dominant feature is a $1.1 billion boost, or 14% more, for public schools, an amount that has drawn GOP objections that it would lead to quickly draining the state’s massive surplus.
For their part, Republicans passed their own $3 billion tax-cutting plan, which Democrats said would have a similar effect of wiping out a projected surplus of about $14 billion.
In remarks on the Senate floor, Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman, R-Indiana, said negotiators were working diligently and that he believed a budget could be finalized next week.