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11/25/24 - 156 New Stories - REAL Environmental & Conservation Leadership In PA: http://tinyurl.com/54ukts8z

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We Have A Budget; Environmental Riders In Limbo; State-Related Universities Not Funded

In the absence of a House vote Wednesday on the House Republican Tax Code bill, and after the House rejected an opportunity to debate a natural gas severance tax 115 to 83, Gov. Wolf took unilateral action to fill the biggest part of the state’s $2.2 billion budget deficit by proposing to float a $1.25 billion bond using revenue generated by the Liquor Control Board.

The House has not acted on bills to fund the state-related universities of Pitt, Penn State, Temple, Lincoln University and the University of Pennsylvania Veterinary School which reduces state spending by about $650 million.

The Governor said he would also take steps to reduce state costs by further reducing the number of state employees on the payroll through attrition and take other measures, including, presumably, to put additional funding in budgetary reserve like he did in August which cut money going to support state parks and Heritage Parks Grants.

Environmental Riders

Because the House took no action on the proposed Republican revenue plan in the Tax Code bill, the 20 or so environmental riders many groups, and some businesses did not support contained in the tax bill-- House Bill 542 (Thomas-D-Philadelphia), Fiscal Code bill-- House Bill 453 (Ryan-R-Lebanon) and the Administrative Code bill-- House Bill 118 (Thomas-D- Philadelphia) remain in limbo. Click Here for more.

With no Fiscal Code bill, another question being asked is how the absence of fund transfers normally included in a Fiscal Code bill passed every year that appropriates money for DCNR operations, the Environmental Stewardship (Growing Greener) Fund and the Hazardous Sites Cleanup Fund will affect these programs.

Budget In Place

No House action also means the budget enacted at the end of June that did not address any of the environmental funding shortfalls the state has remains in effect as a spending plan.

DEP’s General Fund support is still 40 percent below what it was in 2002-03 and $17.9 million below what it was in 1994-95. The lack of General Fund support means even more permit fees increases.

DCNR’s budget is still dependent on transfers from the Oil and Gas Lease Fund to support state park and forestry operations-- $11.2 million and $50 million to fund local and state recreation and conservation projects. Click Here for more.

Of course these code bills and funding for the state-related universities could be brought up for a vote any time in the future.

Recycling Program Shutdown

The House also did not take final action on legislation-- Senate Bill 646 (Killion-R- Delaware)-- to reauthorize the $2/ton Recycling Fee to fund the state’s local material collection programs, although it was reported out of the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee with a one year extension.

DEP has already shutdown new applications to support local recycling programs, household hazardous waste and education grants due to the 2 to 3 year reimbursements required for approved grants. Click Here for more.

Wild Resource Checkoff Expiring

The House also failed to take action to renew the Wild Resource Conservation Tax Checkoff that is due to expire January 1, 2018.

Where We Are On The Budget

Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman (R-Centre) said Wednesday after the House failed to act that with the Governor’s action on the budget now in place, the schools will be funded, human services will be taken care of, the cash flow problem is resolved and the payroll will be met, that part is complete.

You get a sense there is a finality here, added Sen. Corman, but he said he hopes that is not the case. However, he thought it would be difficult to get some of the code bills or gaming done at this time because that sense of urgency is lost.

Governor’s Statement

The Governor was extremely critical of House Republicans Wednesday saying they again failed to deliver on a budget agreement. They continue to prolong the debate over how to pay for a budget they, themselves, voted for in July, he said, adding they have worked to block a natural gas severance tax. Now they can’t pass their own proposals-- a commercial warehouse or hotel tax.

“Too many Republicans are focused on the 2018 elections,” the Governor said. “They would rather see me fail and protect the special interests than have the Commonwealth succeed.” “Now I’m drawing a line in the sand,” he said.

The lack of action by House Republicans, he added, has handed every taxpayer a tax increase, all because they want to protect a special interest by not passing a severance tax.

“I’ve had enough of the games. This is not the way government is supposed to work,” the Governor said. “Any time they want to take action to finish the budget, that’s great. I can’t just sit here and wait.”

Click Here for the Governor’s full statement.

Senate Republicans

Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman (R-Centre) said, as noted above, the Governor’s action essentially put the budget in place.

The Senate, he said, can come back at any time and he and Sen. Pat Browne (R-Lehigh), Majority Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee are available for discussions.

He said now it’s Gov. Wolf’s job to manage state expenditures to keep things in balance.

The next shoe to fall is the decision not to fund the state-related universities by the House. The budget balances if the $650 million for Pitt, Penn State, Temple, Lincoln University and the University of Pennsylvania Veterinary School are not funded.

He also pointed out with the revenue projections and a modest increase in expenditures, next year’s budget will also be balanced, again if Pitt, Penn State, Temple, Lincoln and Penn Veterinary School are not funded.

There will be a reaction from those universities at some point in time and clearly they will have to make up those costs somewhere. Lincoln will have a particular problem, Sen. Corman noted.

This action ends an over 170-year relationship with these schools that we would be walking away from which will have a profound impact. If you no longer have a public mission, that will influence how these universities make decisions.

He said he recognizing people think of him as the Senator from Penn State, however, he said there will be 44,000 students at Penn State next year and the year after that. They may be wealthier students, more out-of-state and international students, but he said this action will not hurt his region’s economy.

Sen. Corman said he did not think these actions today will result in an improvement in the Commonwealth’s bond rating any time soon and the state could get more downgrades.

He said the Senate took tough votes because it was the responsible thing to do. Pressed on the lack of action by the House, Sen. Corman said, “I don’t see any point in casing aspersions on one side or another... it was a collective failure.” “This is certainly not the ending we wanted.”

Getting away for a couple of days might be good, he added, cooler heads may prevail. Every day is a new day around here.

(Based on Periscope app webcast by PLS Reporter.)

House Republicans

House Majority Leader David Reed (R-Indiana) questioned the timing of the Governor’s announcement of securitizing Liquor Control Board revenues to float a $1.25 billion bond saying it appears to him people are hell-bent on not privatizing the state’s liquor business.

If the Governor has the legal authority to do the bond, why didn’t he do it a month ago to avoid the credit downgrade. “Looks to me he created a crisis of his own making and a lot of Pennsylvanians are going to get hurt as a result of it.”

Click Here to see his comments.

Both the Senate and House are scheduled to return to session October 16 after the Columbus Day holiday break.

NewsClips:

What The House GOP Budget Could Mean For Parks, Recycling, Industrial Site Cleanups

Crable: Proposed Cuts To Fish & Boat Commission Would Mean Less Trout In Lancaster

Editorial: House Leaves Fish Commission High And Dry

PA Dems Cry Foul Over Sen. Wagner’s Comments On Natural Gas Tax

AP: Wagner Urged Blocking Severance Tax To Deny Wolf Re-Election

Meyer: Controversy Over Wagner’s Severance Tax Remarks

Delco Reps Explain Votes for Bringing Severance Tax To House Floor

Editorial: How Fracking-Friendly Legislators Are Running PA Into The Ground

Wolf: No Budget Deal, No Problem, I Can Do This Indefinitely