Pennsylvania
Related: About this forumGov. Shapiro blames GOP for budget standoff as top Senate Republican fires back
Caption: Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward, R-Westmoreland, right, with Gov. Josh Shapiro during his first budget address in Harrisburg. Photo: (AP)
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette link: https://www.post-gazette.com/news/politics-state/2023/07/06/josh-shapiro-pennsylvania-budget-senate-republicans-school-vouchers/stories/202307060125
Senate Republicans did not close the deal with their House counterparts, Mr. Shapiro said at a news conference in the Capitol, dissecting a budget negotiation process that typically involves the governors office and the majority party from each chamber of the Legislature.
Hours later, Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward, R-Westmoreland, accused Mr. Shapiro of painting a misleading picture. The truth is there was a deal regardless of what Gov. Shapiro says publicly and he knows there was a deal, she said in a statement.
Republicans control the Senate by a 28-22 margin and Democrats control the House 102-101. Mr. Shapiros appearance his first news conference since budget negotiations ramped up came a day after Republicans generally favorable views of his five-month-old governorship were shattered. The cause they cited was Mr. Shapiros announcement Wednesday he would line-item veto a $100 million appropriation in a fiscal 2024 spending bill passed by the Senate and sent to the House.
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We know the Governor got some pushback from the House Dems and it's mostly over the school vouchers. Former Governor Tom Wolf spent most of his 8 years horse trading with (or losing to) the Repukes. Come on Governor, it's time to show them who's the boss.
Deminpenn
(16,317 posts)meaning it got R votes, too.
Kim Ward and company had to know the voucher plan (scholarships) wouldn't pass the House despite Shapiro's openness to it.
PA has a budget, but the state Senate needs to return to session to sign it (presumably the House already has signed the bill). They apparently are throwing a hissy fit and might not return until September. The Rs also might drag their feet on passing the enabling legislation for some of the programs like the new Whole Home Repair program, but it's not like there aren't homowners in small towns all over R districts who wouldn't be helped by it.
That was a pretty cleaver manuever by Shapiro to pull out his line item veto authority.
FakeNoose
(35,687 posts)... however it won't be so easy the next time. They won't be so trusting on the next "deal."
Deminpenn
(16,317 posts)again. They're likely to drag out the necessary code bills, but they also risk backlash because even voters in R districts need the help the budget provides. Except for not getting the vouchers, the Rs presumably liked everything else they negotiated with Shapiro.
Deminpenn
(16,317 posts)to session to sign the budget bill.