Analyst: Governor Likely To Feel Heat On Stopgaps
By Tony Romeo
HARRISBURG, Pa. (CBS) --- With Pennsylvania into its third month without a budget, leaders of the Republican-controlled legislature are working on details of temporary "stopgap" funding legislation that they plan to put up for a vote later this month. But will the governor go along?
Absent major progress in budget talks in the coming days, the Senate is poised to vote on stopgap funding as soon as next week.
Last week, Governor Wolf's spokesman said he was "not considering" a stopgap budget. Wednesday, Wolf's spokesman said "no final decisions have been made regarding a stopgap budget."
Franklin and Marshall College political analyst Terry Madonna believes pressure will mount on the governor if stopgap funding legislation gets to his desk while the pain mounts on schools and human service agencies deprived of state funds.
"The onus will fall back on the governor once the pain is felt," Madonna says. "That's very different than what's preceded… in terms of trying to get a budget deal."
Madonna says not signing stopgap bills would put the governor at risk with the public. "I think if the governor says no to a stopgap, then politically, the Republicans are going to make the argument that the governor is responsible for all the pain and the heartache and the disruption of services."
A spokeswoman for Senate Republican leaders says details of what stopgap funding legislation will look like are still under discussion.