HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s budget for the 2022-23 fiscal year won’t be complete on time for its June 30 deadline, and lawmakers plan to stay through the Fourth of July weekend.
A number of issues remain outstanding. As of Wednesday evening, no spending bill had been unveiled and legislation to appropriate more than $580 million to the state’s four state-related universities — including Pitt — was removed from the legislative calendar for Wednesday’s voting session.
Pitt’s spending is one of several sticking points remaining in budget negotiations between Gov. Tom Wolf and Republican leaders in the House and Senate, as they try to agree on a roughly $42 billion budget plan.
Legislative leaders and the Wolf administration remained silent about the closed-door budget negotiations on Wednesday. However, a spokesman for House Republicans said there’s “positive momentum” in budget talks.
The state Senate added three session days to its calendar, with budget votes set to go through Sunday.
While budget bills are still on hold, lawmakers in the GOP-controlled General Assembly voted on a number of unrelated issues — including legislation that conservative parents are advocating for in statehouses across the country.
In the Senate, a bill destined for a veto from Mr. Wolf was sent to his desk. The Senate approved a bill that would ban transgender women and girls from participating in sports with their female peers at the scholastic and collegiate levels.
The Senate also approved a two-bill package framed around parents’ rights to decide what content their children consume at school. One of these bills would require schools to notify parents of any sexually explicit content in their curriculum. Another would block teachers from discussing gender identity and sexual orientation with elementary school students.
Sen. Ryan Aument, R-Lancaster, emphasized that his bill requiring parental permission for viewing sexually explicit content would not ban any books.
“It’s not a book ban, it’s never been a book ban, and it isn’t intended to be a book ban,” Mr. Aument said.
The makers of the bills, two Lancaster County Republicans, noted a lawsuit by three mothers in Mt. Lebanon who filed a federal lawsuit against their school district for allegedly teaching gender identity issues to first-grade students. This instance, along with 14 other examples across the state’s more than 3,200 schools, inspired the bills, the lawmakers said in floor debate Wednesday.
A spokeswoman for Mr. Wolf condemned the bills as “extremely concerning” and “a disgrace.”
“The governor has made it clear time and time again that Pennsylvania is welcoming to all, and hate has no place here, and he would veto any legislation that discriminates against LGBTQIA+ Pennsylvanians,” said Elizabeth Rementer, Mr. Wolf’s press secretary.
Sen. Lindsey Williams, D-West View, criticized both bills, and said she was concerned that the bill banning sexually explicit content did not have an exception for health, science or art classes. She said these bills create “an absolutely unworkable requirement” for districts, adding that schools already filter for sexually explicit content.
In the House, Republicans created a new commission with subpoena powers to investigate Philadelphia’s District Attorney Larry Krasner. Mr. Krasner has been a target of politicians in Harrisburg — with recent efforts to impeach him led by Rep. Joshua Kail, R-Beaver, because of Mr. Krasner’s refusal to prosecute some crimes.
Mr. Kail said the House “has no choice but to step in to restore law and order” in Philadelphia. The House commission will include three Republicans and two Democrats.
“Crime victims are pleading for help, and we have a duty to protect all Pennsylvanians and find solutions to the problem,” Mr. Kail said.
Mr. Krasner was re-elected to a second term as Philadelphia’s district attorney last year.
Gillian McGoldrick: gmcgoldrick@post-gazette.com or on Twitter @gill_mcgoldrick
First Published: June 30, 2022, 12:12 a.m.
Updated: June 30, 2022, 12:30 p.m.
