Pennsylvania lawmakers break for July 4 holiday with no budget deal

HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) – Independence Day will come and go without a state budget, which was due June 30. Pennsylvania lawmakers will break for the holiday but will return on Friday and work through the weekend.

Education funding is still a major hurdle to determine how much gets pushed out to schools. Senate Republican Leader Joe Pittman reiterated that there are 500 school districts and they all have a different idea of what “fair funding” is.

All sides say they’re working hard and productively on the budget and they’re hoping to have something done soon.

During a Tuesday afternoon press conference, Pittman said “details matter” when trying to hammer out an agreement.

“Words on paper matter,” said Pittman. “And as we always say, unless everything’s agreed to, nothing is agreed to. But I still remain optimistic and hopeful that we’re going to conclude this process in the next several days. Exactly how that may unfold remains an open question.”

Governor Josh Shapiro has called for a $48 billion budget, however, Pittman said he is “quite confident it will be less” but did not elaborate on how much.

“Governor Shapiro and legislative leaders have been working hard to finalize a budget that delivers for our Commonwealth,” said the Governor’s spokesperson Manuel Bonder on Wednesday afternoon. “The Governor has been engaged in a positive, productive dialogue in Harrisburg with leaders in both parties – and he will continue doing so over the coming days as we work to close this deal. Governor Shapiro is the only Governor in the nation with a divided legislature – and that requires us to come together in order to make progress on the issues Pennsylvania faces. The Governor is grateful that all sides have remained at the table, understand the need to compromise, and are working hard to get this done.”

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