HARRISBURG — Gov. Tom Wolf says he will veto a Republican proposal to end the state’s eight-month budget battle if the legislation reaches him in its current form.
The governor, a Democrat, will also face the decision of whether to sign bills to provide funding to the University of Pittsburgh and Penn State University, which passed the House this afternoon.
Mr. Wolf's statement on the budget bill came shortly after the Senate passed that legislation with a vote of 31-18, with all Republicans in support and nearly all Democrats in opposition.
The bill would provide funding for K-12 education and state prisons, spending lines that Mr. Wolf reduced, in an effort to draw legislators back to negotiations, when he signed most of a Republican-crafted budget in December.
On the Senate floor, Majority Leader Jake Corman, R-Centre, said Republicans will work to resolve the state's structural deficit, a subject of concern to Mr. Wolf. But he said that schools need to receive their state funding.
“It pales in comparison to the decision parents are going to have to make if their schools are closed,” Mr. Corman said. “It pales in comparison to the decision that employees are going to have to make, are they going to work without pay? That's the real-life decision that's going to happen if we do not pass this budget and the governor does not sign it.”
House Majority Leader Dave Reed, R-Indiana, said yesterday that the House will vote on the bill today.
In his statement, Mr. Wolf called the Republican plan an “unbalanced budget that does not fund our schools or fix the deficit.” He said he will veto the budget in its current form.
“This is further indication that the Republican leaders have no intention of working together with me to produce a final budget,” Mr. Wolf said. “This is the third time they have attempted to pass an unbalanced budget with no consultation with the administration. This is simply unproductive and a waste of taxpayer resources.”
The budget bill now heads to the House, which is also expected to take a final vote on a bill to permit the medical use of marijuana in the state, sending that legislation back to the Senate.
Karen Langley: klangley@post-gazette.com or 717-787-2141 or on Twitter @karen_langley
First Published: March 16, 2016, 3:06 p.m.
Updated: March 16, 2016, 7:56 p.m.
