6 of 7 county legislators back GOP House short-term spending plan
HARRISBURG — All six Republican state representatives covering part of Butler County voted Thursday for a short-term spending plan that Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf has vowed to veto without broader agreement on a plan to end a nearly three-month budget stalemate.
Democrat State Rep. Jaret Gibbons, D-10th, voted against it. He covers part of the county in the Slippery Rock area.
After more than two hours of angry debate, the 117-83 vote on the Republican majority’s $11 billion spending plan was along party lines as Democrats stood by Wolf.
Pennsylvania is just one of two states — along with Illinois — whose deep partisan divide in state government has stymied the passage of a budget since the fiscal year began July 1.
The bill is intended to cover four months of funding, retroactive to the start of the fiscal year through Oct. 31, and would release $24 billion in federal funds.
Republicans continued to drum out their opposition to a multibillion-dollar tax increase being sought by Wolf, which they charged that Democrats don’t even support.
They insisted the short-term spending package was necessary to stop layoffs, service shutdowns and closures, and they urged Democrats to release schoolchildren and the vulnerable as their “hostages.”
Democrats excoriated Republicans for cutting funding for schools and social services under Wolf’s Republican predecessor and blamed them for perpetuating a long-term deficit that’s damaged Pennsylvania’s credit rating.
Wolf, a first-term governor, and the Legislature’s huge Republican majorities have deep divides over handling fiscal policy, education funding, public pension debt and the state-controlled wine and liquor store system.
