Pennsylvania governor backs off $100M private schools program in budget stalemate
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro on Wednesday backed off his insistence on money for a new private-school funding program after it became a sticking point in a budget stalemate between Pennsylvania's politically divided Legislature.
Shapiro's shift in position came as state government plowed through its fifth day without full spending authority, and the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives prepared to respond to a budget deal between Shapiro and Republicans who control the state Senate.
The holdup in the politically divided Legislature was primarily over education spending — including Shapiro's support for a new $100 million program to pay for tuition at private and religious schools that Republicans also want.
But that first-ever "voucher" program has been long-opposed by Democrats, teachers' unions and school boards. Shapiro has remained out of sight in the Capitol, but in a statement said he would issue a line-item veto of the $100 million program should the House otherwise pass the Senate's $45 billion spending plan.
Shapiro said he was disappointed, but did not want to plunge the state into a "painful, protracted budget impasse."
The House returned to session Wednesday night, and a vote on the Senate Republicans' main budget bill remained possible. Some Republicans expressed shock at the turn of events.
"If this was the plan in the end, (Shapiro) certainly will have ruined his credibility with us, which to this point had been pretty strong," said Sen. Chris Gebhard, R-Lebanon.
Senate Republicans have not necessarily lost all their leverage.
Other items that Shapiro had wanted in the budget bill — and that Senate Republicans agreed to in exchange for the private schools program — might need separate legislation to allow that money to be spent.
And Republicans haven't scheduled the Senate to return to session until Sept. 18, giving them the ability to hold up the budget bill until then without the constitutionally required signature of the presiding officer.
Senate Republicans had raised the $100 million program for private and religious schools program in their negotiations, finding an ally in Shapiro.
But Shapiro's insistence on including the program in the budget sowed intraparty tension with his fellow Democrats and threw a late curveball into budget negotiations.
House Democrats, in response, demanded more in aid for public schools that Senate Republicans were unwilling to meet and, last week, voted down the Senate's separate legislation to create the voucher program.
Democrats say that sending more taxpayer money to private and religious schools makes no sense just months after a state judge ruled in a landmark case that Pennsylvania's system of school funding is violating the rights of children in poorer school districts.
Rep. Tarik Khan, D-Philadelphia, said the court ruling makes it clear that boosting money for public schools — not private schools — must be a priority for lawmakers to try to wipe out disparities.
"Taking kids out of public schools and diverting resources that otherwise would have gone (to public schools) doesn't make sense," Khan said.
Rep. Ismail Smith-Wade-El, D-Lancaster, said his constituents want more money for education, special education and mental health services in schools.
"They didn't ask for vouchers," Smith-Wade-El said.
For their part, Republicans have described how closely they worked with Shapiro on a budget plan and how they added hundreds of millions of dollars in spending that Shapiro had sought to sell the deal to House Democrats.
The Senate passed the main budget bill Friday. The plan represents a 5% increase from last year's approved budget. However, some of it remains in limbo, including about $600 million in aid for Penn State, Temple University and the University of Pittsburgh that has been held up by a House Republican bloc.
The total spending figure would be several hundred million less than what Shapiro proposed in March and about $1.7 billion less than what the Democratic-controlled House passed in early June. It also carries significantly less for public schools than what House Democrats sought.
The plan does not increase sales or income taxes — the state's two main sources of income — and requires about $1 billion from reserves to balance, leaving another $13 billion in reserve.
