Monday, February 03, 2025, 3:38AM |  38°
MENU
Advertisement
Governor Josh Shapiro and Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Colonel Christopher Paris announced that the PSP will remove the college credit requirement for Pennsylvanians who want to serve as state troopers.
1
MORE

Editorial: A state budget compromise is possible, if pragmatism can trump ideology

Commonwealth Media Services

Editorial: A state budget compromise is possible, if pragmatism can trump ideology

At least part of the Pennsylvania state budget has remained in limbo for over 10 weeks now, pushing well past the June 30th deadline. Schools, universities and the state judicial system are being forced to make hard choices as the ongoing standoff in Harrisburg has frozen all new or expanded programs. At the center are two $100 million allocations that tackle the state’s education woes in dramatically different ways.

Once the State House reconvenes under Democratic control, the House Democrats and Senate Republicans should strike a grown-up compromise that ensures each side gets some of their priorities. Strict adherence to ideological purity, on the other hand, will ensure the standoff drags on for months, while schools, courts and other institutions suffer.

Give and take

Advertisement

The primary budget, known as the General Appropriation Bill, received Gov. Josh Shapiro's signature in early August. While there had been hope for an on-time June budget, House Democrats balked at the $100 million Pennsylvania Award for Student Success (PASS) school voucher program, favored by Republicans and supported by Mr. Shapiro. To mollify his own party, the governor enraged the other party by vowing to line-item veto the program. In turn, the Senate Republicans left Harrisburg to reorganize, before returning to pass the main budget several weeks later.

While the governor's signature did release most of the state's budget, the Fiscal Code bill, which outlines precisely how some $450 million of the funds allocated in the General Appropriations bill should be spent, remains a point of contention. (Another roughly $500 million is likely destined for the state’s so-called Rainy Day Fund.) Without this crucial piece of legislation, new or expanded programs are effectively paralyzed, lacking the essential "code bill language" that instructs how the funds should be used.

In late August, the Republican-led Senate passed its own Fiscal Code bill, which included $100 million for PASS. The House Democrats are waiting to reconvene until their 102-101 majority is restored by the special election for the heavily Democratic 21st House District, vacated by county executive candidate Sara Innamorato, which will take place on Tuesday.

Setting aside the political maneuvering and tit-for-tat exchanges, the consequences of this year’s budget impasse have been mounting.

Advertisement

Programs delayed and money lost

While the biggest debates are over K-12 education funding, other institutions and programs are being hurt by the delay. For instance, at Pennsylvania's four state-related schools — Pitt, Temple, Penn State and Lincoln University — tuition discounts for in-state students depend on state funding. For Penn State students, a third of the $15,000 in-state discount comes from the state. At Pitt, it’s around half the $16,000 savings. Lawmakers, largely Republican, requested tuition freezes, but by now all the institutions except Lincoln have opted to hike prices for at least some in-state students.

At both the K-12 and post-secondary level, funding delays make it hard to plan for the next fiscal year. Teachers, professors and administrators are in limbo.

The budget impasse is also draining money from the court system. Two surcharges for court filings, totaling $21.25, expired on July 31st. As a result, the courts are losing $850,000 for every week the budget remains unresolved.

Other programs caught in the crossfire are necessary and humane. Among them: $50 million for the popular Whole Home Repairs program, which pays for needed renovations for low-income homeowners; another $100 million for school mental health counselors plus $10 million in stipends for student teachers; $50 million for emergency health care system relief; and a first-ever state appropriation of for indigent criminal defense.

A clear compromise opportunity

At the heart of the budget debate are two $100 million education allocations with fundamentally different approaches to improving Pennsylvania’s K-12 system: the PASS voucher program and Level Up, a two-year-old program designed to funnel money to the commonwealth’s 100 neediest K-12 school districts. While PASS offers lower-income households the opportunity to subsidize a private or charter education, Level Up offers crucial support to districts in need. They are, in essence, dual $100 million bargaining chips.

Mr. Shapiro has indicated that he still does not personally oppose the voucher program, which is specifically aimed at lower-income families and is described by supporters as a creative way to enhance education funding. The next convening of the Senate and the House will not be before Sept. 18 and Sept. 26, respectively.

While PASS and Level Up aren’t the only chips on the table, they are by far the biggest, and they present the most obvious opportunity for compromise. Ideologues and special interests will howl if they don’t get their way — and that’s exactly the problem. A solution is obvious, if only legislative leaders and the governor can cut through the partisan bluster to grasp it: Include some, but not all, funding for both. Democrats should consider some funding for PASS as a pilot program whose effects can be studied. Republicans should consider agreeing to some Level Up funding the cost of doing business in a divided government.

The line-item veto debacle was the first real misstep in Mr. Shapiro’s tenure, when his reputation as a pragmatically progressive dealmaker came into question. Now, he can restore that lost luster by striking a bargain that benefits both sides and Pennsylvania’s children, while getting government moving again.

First Published: September 17, 2023, 9:30 a.m.

RELATED
SHOW COMMENTS (3)  
Join the Conversation
Commenting policy | How to Report Abuse
If you would like your comment to be considered for a published letter to the editor, please send it to letters@post-gazette.com. Letters must be under 250 words and may be edited for length and clarity.
Partners
Advertisement
President Richard M. Nixon, who named the “Madman Theory” for scaring other nations into doing what the U.S. wanted. President Donald Trump has adopted it for his own foreign policy. Here Nixon points to transcripts of conversations in the Oval Office, which would later help force him to resign.
1
opinion
David M. Shribman: Donald Trump acts on Richard Nixon’s ‘madman theory’
PNC Bank corporate headquarters in Downtown.
2
business
PNC accused of short-changing clients in low-yield accounts
Ohio State wide receiver Emeka Egbuka catches a touchdown pass as Oregon defensive back Brandon Johnson defends during the first half in the quarterfinals of the Rose Bowl College Football Playoff, Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025, in Pasadena, Calif.
3
sports
Brian Batko’s post-Senior Bowl Steelers 7-round mock draft: Best playmaker available
FILE - A boat is seen on the Susitna River near Talkeetna, Alaska, on Sunday, June 13, 2021, with Denali in the background. Denali, the tallest mountain on the North American continent, is located about 60 miles northwest of Talkeetna.
4
news
Alaskans say Trump can change the name of Denali but can't make people call it Mount McKinley
Elise Duckworth is a 17-year-old Pine-Richland junior who has spoken out against a proposed library book policy that would give the school board more authority over which books are permitted in the library, while allowing them to make the final call on challenged books.
5
news
Meet the Pine-Richland student fighting to keep access to books in her school
Governor Josh Shapiro and Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Colonel Christopher Paris announced that the PSP will remove the college credit requirement for Pennsylvanians who want to serve as state troopers.  (Commonwealth Media Services)
Commonwealth Media Services
Advertisement
LATEST opinion
Advertisement
TOP
Email a Story