PA. budget headed for complete gridlock - likely to be late, which will harm human services

[JPZenger]

http://citizensvoice.com/news/pa-budget-deadline-approaches-1.1897948

Excerpt:

"An impasse after that deadline would leave state government without authority to spend money and create a great deal of uncertainty about the continued flow of state aid. In 2009, a partisan budget battle left food banks, child care centers and social service agencies without funding for months.

For Pennsylvania to maintain full spending authority after the deadline, lawmakers must pass and Wolf must sign a budget package that includes a fiscal bill detailing where tax revenue comes from and a school code that distributes state aid to school districts.

Wolf and GOP legislative leaders discussed budget issues last week, but still grapple with such basic concepts as the size of a revenue deficit that needs to be addressed.

Wolf pegs the deficit at $2 billion due to an over-reliance on one-time revenue sources, while GOP lawmakers contend the deficit is much smaller, in the $1 billion range, as tax revenues ticked up in recent months."

Also, school districts have absolutely no idea how much funding they will receive for the next school year, even though they are required to pass balanced budgets in June.

[femmocrat]

1. Same old "stuff" from the repubs:

Sell the liquor stores and screw public pensions. Then there is building a budget based on expanding gambling.

We all knew that they would never go for Wolf's tax increases.

[Curmudgeoness]

2. And this is called news?

I would have been completely shocked if they could agree on a budget on time. Hell, they had enough problems when the GOP was in charge of everything!

And it isn't just social services that will be affected. If this goes as long as I expect, it will affect just about everything.