At last
There was a huge sigh of relief in Harrisburg on March 23, which echoed throughout the commonwealth. Gov. Tom Wolf announced that he wasn’t going to veto a $6.6 billion GOP appropriations bill, essentially ending a nineth-month budget impasse that threatened the survival of schools, nonprofit organizations and local governments.
Wolf said he couldn’t sign the measure because it failed to fund the state’s education needs appropriately and didn’t deal with a $2 billion structural deficit. However, he said he would let the bill become law because, “It was the right thing to do.”
So, give credit to Wolf for showing some signs of being reasonable and able to compromise. Of course, also give him some credit for being able to read the handwriting on the wall.
The appropriations bill passed by the state House of Representatives included the approval of 13 Democrats, despite Wolf threatening to veto the measure. So, House Republicans needed only three more Democrats to override Wolf’s proposed veto. State Rep. Pete Daley, D-California, had predicted that such support was very likely, especially with school closings on the horizon.
Among those Democrats voting for the measure last week were state Rep. Tim Mahoney, D-South Union Township, and state Rep. Pam Snyder, D-Jefferson. While they didn’t comment on how they would have voted on the veto override, Mahoney and Snyder both said they were relieved that Wolf was going to let the measure become law.
In the end, there was give and take on both sides. Gov. Wolf did get $200 million in new direct aid from the state to public schools, including a last-minute, $50 million addition in the basic education subsidy. That’s only about half his initial request but still the biggest single-year increase for schools since former Gov. Ed Rendell was in office.
He also held firm against Republican proposals to privatize the sale of alcohol and to overhaul the state’s public pension plans.
Republicans, though, were able to get their number one goal of holding the line on taxes. No doubt, Republican lawmakers will crow about that achievement all the way through the upcoming election season.
It came down to a compromise among both sides that we said was inevitable from the beginning, with a Democratic governor and a Republican-controlled state Legislature. It’s just a shame that it had to take nine months after the July 1 budget deadline for the two sides to finally agree on a spending plan. All the financial suffering and worrying caused by the deadlock could have been avoided if both sides had come to their senses earlier in the year.
Going forward it remains to be seen if either side has learned any lessons from this debacle. Will it be possible for them to reach a budget deal in the next three months? Or will they stick to their guns and preside over another budget impasse?
Both sides will have to seriously weigh the worth of a compromise as opposed to holding their ground. Either way neither side will get everything they wanted. It’s quite possible that we could end up with another similar budget deal next year, with the Republicans holding the line on taxes and Wolf standing firm against any GOP proposals. If that happens, let’s hope we don’t have to endure another nine-month standoff. Commonwealth residents should never have to go through such pain and misery again.