Amid a continuing debate over state budget priorities, and more than two months after the start of fiscal year, 2025-26, the General Assembly is scheduled to reconvene today in Harrisburg.
The Senate is scheduled to do so at 11 a.m., as is the House, but according to the calendar on the legis.state.pa.us website, the House is scheduled only for a non-voting session.
State Rep. Brian Smith, R-Punxsutawney, and others in the GOP caucus are critical of how House Democrats, who have a 102-101 edge, are controlling the calendar.
“My Republican colleagues and I are ready to get back to Harrisburg to get this budget done,” Smith said in an email to his constituents Tuesday. “It’s time to end this standoff and do our jobs.”
House Republicans oppose the nearly $51.5 billion spending plan pushed through earlier by the House Democrats, saying it spends more than $5.5 billion over projected state revenue.
They said the Senate “understandably blocked that budget plan and sent back a fiscally responsible version which matched our spending from last fiscal year, but House Democrats, who keep talking about how urgently we need a budget plan, blocked the Senate’s proposal.”
A similar comment was posted Monday by state Rep. Josh Bashline, R-Clarion Township, whose district includes Armstrong County communities bordering on Indiana County.
“We must do what our constituents sent us to Harrisburg for by being responsible adults and enacting a responsible fiscal plan that best serves the needs of residents and the Commonwealth,” Bashline said.
Smith said agreement with the Democrats’ proposal “will almost certainly lead to a tax increase. Their lack of restraint when it comes to spending should not lead to Pennsylvanians losing more of their hard-earned money.”
Meanwhile, Gov. Josh Shapiro directed Pennsylvania Department of Transportation Secretary Mike Carroll to approve the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority’s request to use up to $394 million in capital assistance funds for daily operations.
On Friday, administration officials said, SEPTA General Manager Scott Sauer sent a letter to PennDOT requesting this flexibility, and with the Shapiro Administration’s approval, SEPTA will be able to preserve existing service and avoid planned service cuts for the next two years.
“Unfortunately,” Carroll said, “Senate Republicans have refused to agree to a long-term solution that provides certainty and does not also unfairly raid mass transit capital dollars for unrelated expenditures — and the Shapiro Administration believes Pennsylvanians who rely on SEPTA deserve service that helps them get to work, school, or wherever they need to go.”
