Dear Friends,
On July 14th, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives passed House Bill 1330, a General Appropriations bill that marks the first significant movement toward a state budget agreement that is now more than three weeks overdue. Though introduced by House Democrats, the bill drew support from a handful of Republican members, signaling a potential for bipartisan compromise. HB 1330 largely reflects Governor Josh Shapiro’s priorities, especially in the area of public education funding, even though it reduces his original proposal by over $1 billion.
While we know this is not a final step in the budgeting process, it does indicate some forward momentum and is reflective of House Democrats’ understanding that in a divided legislature, we will have to compromise to move a budget forward. Any budget we pass will require a three-way agreement with House Democrats, Senate Republicans, and Governor Shapiro.
For most of my early tenure in the House when I was in the minority, we often had an unnegotiated budget dumped on us on June 30th by the Senate. We were told that if we did not pass it, the House would be held responsible for the state not having a budget. This was a product of more than three decades of Senate Republican control and because of a strained relationship between the House and Senate Republicans.
The House is very aware that we need to negotiate a budget and have been doing so in good faith. The intention has not been to dump a budget on the Senate and jet out of town with our tires screeching, telling them they needed to pass it “or else.” We have been in Harrisburg each week, and even when the Senate wasn’t, we were ready, willing, and able to pass a budget. We know our government cannot function without compromise. However, despite ongoing negotiation attempts, we have seen little progress from Senate Republicans on moving a budget. For instance, they still haven’t passed any version of their own ideal budget, although indicating they want 10% cuts to education funding, and other essential state programs. I can understand why garnering support for it would be difficult at a time when we are expecting significant cuts in service by the federal government to be implemented over the coming years.
While sending HB 1330 over to the Senate may move things forward, it does not resolve the deeper policy debates that must be addressed before a full budget package can be finalized. There are many pieces of a budget and policy issues that need to be addressed to ensure that our budget is sustainable and can adequately address the needs of our constituents. Our budget needs to address: cyber charter reform so we stop losing $616 million per year to predatory cyber charter funding schemes; securing SEPTA and other public transit to protect our economy and its future; raising the minimum wage so people are able to survive and not be reliant on social safety nets; and identifying new revenue sources like closing the Delaware loophole, taxing “skill-based” video gambling and the legalization of adult-use recreational cannabis. The House has already passed legislation on these issues and those bills have been sitting for weeks, and sometimes months, in the Senate.
HB 1330 invests in our health, safety and future through: a $526 million increase in the Ready-to-Learn Block Grant for the second installment of adequacy and tax equity payments; preserving childcare; funding the state university system, Department of Environmental Protection and the Department of Transportation, as well as our state police. Even though it would be impossible for the state to mitigate the impact the federal budget cuts will have on Medicaid, this budget seeks to blunt the impact of those cuts by increasing Department of Human Services funding by nearly $4.5 billion. That funding includes a $1.1 billion increase for the Medical Assistance Managed Care program and an $8 million boost for the State Food Purchase Program—critical steps aimed at softening the blow for vulnerable Pennsylvanians facing the effects of federal budget cuts.
Under HB 1330, departments that would see an overall reduction in funding, include: the Governor’s Office; Agriculture; General Services; Health; Military and Veterans Affairs; Department of State; Emergency Management and Homeland Security; and the Historical and Museum Commission.
It’s incredibly hard to negotiate in a vacuum. We often send bills to the Senate that are immediately voted down or Senate leadership immediately goes to the press and says the bill is dead on arrival. These include some essential bills to balancing the budget like those which increase revenue, or protect essential services, like funding SEPTA. Also, that happens without any reciprocal or counter proposals coming back to the House on these essential issues. That’s not governance, it’s not negotiating, and it’s not leadership. Moreover, it’s not reflective of the legislative realities facing the commonwealth. We sit in a divided legislature and must compromise to ensure our schools, agencies, and other publicly funded bodies have the resources they need to do their jobs. Right now, the House is coming to the table and sending solutions to the Senate and the Senate cannot function well enough to move its own proposals, let alone adequately address ours.
Per a Penn Capitol-Star article, “as of July 21st the Department of Education could not make payments for adult basic education and the Early Intervention, Pre-K Counts, and Head Start programs.” That same article cited that, “if there’s no deal by July 31, PDE will also miss payments for special education and community colleges. And if there’s no deal come Aug. 28, more substantial payments will be missed, including for basic K-12 education.” The article went on to cite higher education funding deadlines and SEPTA service disruptions. Counties and local agencies are also at risk.
Last week, a spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman (R-Indiana) said that House Bill 1330 is not “a finished product.” Thereafter the Senate Appropriations Committee gutted 198 pages of the 199-page budget bill we sent over to them and replaced it with a two-page provision that preserves funding for rape crisis centers.
We continue to be present and ready to pass a budget and hope our colleagues in the Senate will come to the table and take action for the benefit of all of our constituents. It is long past time for them to put people above politics. I will continue to keep you updated as the budgeting process continues.