Last week, the Republican-led Pennsylvania legislature sent Gov. Tom Wolf (D) a budget bill that he refused to sign. But unlike the Republicans’ budget package Wolf historically vetoed last summer, this one automatically became law this week, and won’t include pension or liquor reform.
The budget measures are contained in HB 1801 and HB 1327, the latter of which details how the former is implemented. Late Monday, Gov. Wolf actually vetoed HB 1327 while allowing HB 1801 to become law, and it remains to be seen how the legislature will respond. A veto override could be in the works.Both sides had finally agreed in the past week to get last year's budget out of the way after a 10-month stalemate, with Wolf getting almost nothing for which he’d been fighting. After addressing the implementation of the 2015-16 budget, everyone in Harrisburg will turn their attention to the battle over the next budget, which is due June 30.
We are essentially right back where we started, with the governor insisting on more taxes, the Senate insisting on pension reform, and the House insisting on liquor privatization. Here we go again!
Ray Harmon, Esq. is government affairs counsel for NTSA.
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