HARRISBURG, Pa. — The second day of the Senate session in Harrisburg ended with no budget deal and no public debate on the issue, as Pennsylvania lawmakers remain without a decision more than two months past the state’s budget deadline.
“We are 71 days past due, and we still don’t have a budget,” said state Sen. Lindsey Williams, D-Allegheny. “We are here in Harrisburg, we aren’t talking about a budget, we aren’t voting on a budget.”
Williams expressed frustration over the lack of movement, saying the delay is creating real-world consequences. She said her office has been inundated with calls from constituents concerned about future funding.
“I’ve heard of a rape crisis center in another county shutting down already,” Williams said. “People are struggling; they were already struggling with flat funding over years.”
On the other side of the aisle, Sen. Devlin Robinson, R-Allegheny, said fiscal responsibility is the GOP’s top priority.
“We want to make sure that we don’t spend more than we are taking in — that’s just basic math,” Robinson said. “If you do spend more, you have to raise taxes, and we are here to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
Robinson said he doesn’t believe the state is yet at risk of a shutdown, after conversations with residents and organizations in our area.
“I’ve reached out to a lot of my school districts to make sure they are in good fiscal shape,” Robinson said. “We even passed the budget last month, which was last year’s budget, to make sure we could get everyone over the hump.”
However, that bill was ultimately voted down in the House, sending both chambers back to square one.
The Senate has one more scheduled day in session this week, but multiple lawmakers said they do not expect a budget deal to be reached before the end of the week.
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