PA Budget Standoffs: 'July 1st Needs To Mean Something Again'
HARRISBURG (CBS) -- The latest marathon state budget standoff may be drawing to a close.
If Governor Wolf signs revenue and other budget companion bills that are now finally on his desk, the latest logjam will be over after nearly four months.
Republican Jake Corman, the Senate majority leader, says one reason it seems that Pennsylvania is always in the throes of a budget dispute is that there are no longer any real consequences since legal rulings changed the process.
"July first needs to mean something again," he said. "Because of court cases and because…parks don't close…state employees get paid, legislators get paid. Everything goes on like we have budget. And so the incentive to finish isn't quite there."
Complicating matters this year is that the actual budget was passed on time. But there was no agreement on how to pay for the spending plan. About that, Corman says:
"Clearly, that was a mistake."