Could Harrisburg Be Heading Toward A Budget Breakthrough?

With Pennsylvania’s state budget stalled for nearly two months, top lawmakers and Gov. Josh Shapiro may be nearing a compromise.

The ongoing budget impasse has led to service cuts for transit authorities like SEPTA and is starting to impact other state-funded programs.

According to sources cited by Spotlight PA on Wednesday, Shapiro’s office has proposed a $49.9 billion budget to end the stalemate.

Gov. Josh Shapiro speaks with the press on July 6, 2023, at the Capitol in Harrisburg.

The proposal represents a compromise from Shapiro’s first pitch, with a 5 percent increase in state spending compared to the original 8 percent, Spotlight PA reported.

The Republican-led Senate has sought to cut spending without using the state’s rainy day fund.

One area of potential agreement has emerged around the use of the Public Transportation Trust Fund, a special fund holding approximately $2.4 billion.

House Majority Leader Matt Bradford, a Democrat from Montgomery County, told The Philadelphia Inquirer he is open to using the fund to support mass transit, on the condition that a reliable and recurring revenue stream is found.

Bradford’s comments follow a statement from Shapiro, who told reporters on Monday that he supports using the fund as part of a “broader package” that includes “recurring funding over a long period of time,” The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

The Senate, which is led by Republicans, previously approved a plan to use money from the trust fund for two years while a long-term solution is sought. However, Democrats in the House passed a separate bill that would direct an additional 1.75 percent of the state’s sales tax revenue to transit agencies and rejected the Senate’s proposal.

House and Senate Democrats have called the GOP plan unsustainable.

State Sen. Frank Farry, a Republican from Bucks County, has supported the GOP’s plan as a temporary measure and called for taxing skill games to create future transit revenue.

State Sen. Steve Santarsiero, a Democrat from Bucks County, has backed the House Democrats’ plan.

On social media Wednesday, Santarsiero described the Republican plan as a “cynical shell game alternative, pulling already committed capital funding for trains, buses and infrastructure repairs and calling it new funds.”

As negotiations continue, Shapiro has accused some Republicans of stalling the budget process, the Pennsylvania Capital-Star reported Monday.

“There are real differences between the parties, and real tugs on the parties in different directions,” Shapiro said, according to the publication. “But we have proven an ability to do that because we have found common ground.”

Negotiations on the budget continued Wednesday, with spokespeople for both sides confirming to Spotlight PA that discussions were ongoing.

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