HARRISBURG — As the state House reconvened Jan. 11 for its first voting session of 2016, House Democrats voted to block $578 million in funding to state-related universities until a final budget package moves forward.
All five bills that included funding for Penn State, Pitt, Temple and Lincoln, as well as the University of Pennsylvania’s veterinarian school, fell short of the two-thirds majority required for the passage of “non-preferred appropriations.”
The funding packages would have increased funding by 5 percent to all these universities, except for Lincoln, which would have seen a 7 percent increase. For Penn State, the package would have provided a $10.7 million increase and a $2 million increase for the Pennsylvania College of Technology.
Democratic leaders said the action was premature, bypassing a final resolution to a state budget that is moving into its seventh month of gridlock, according to the Associated Press. With possible constitutional and legal backlash, Democrats would like to first see the state complete negotiations for general appropriations such as K through 12 funding before deciding non-preferred appropriations.
“We have to pass what will fund the Penn Valley Area School District, the Bald Eagle School District and the State College District before we can take care of Penn State,” said Rep. Mike Hanna, D-Lock Haven.
Gov. Tom Wolf’s spokesman, Jeff Sheridan, said the $30.3 GOP budget that Wolf line-item vetoed just after Christmas also needs both a revenue plan and further revenue to adequately finance schools and social services before university spending is considered.
Wolf pushed forward nearly $24 billion in emergency funding to social services, counties and school districts after House Republicans decided to not approve a $30.8 billion budget and push forward a $30.3 billion budget.
Wolf’s decision to line-item veto the GOP budget, a move also widely supported by Republican leaders, allows both sides more time to negotiate without forcing school districts and social services to suffer. However, Wolf said he would like to see a $30.8 billion alternative that allows for more funding to school districts and more than $1 billion in unspecified tax increases that reduces the budget deficit.
“Today, they tried to enact new funding for the state-related universities without paying for it,” Sheridan, in a blog post, said of the GOP budget that does not include a tax code to cover additional spending.
Hanna said he has met with Penn State representatives to give his pledge that a $30.8 billion budget will pass and the university will receive the same funding that was proposed Jan. 11 once spending is negotiated for other state agencies.
However, GOP proponents of the bills blocked on Jan. 11 said the costs would be absorbed by the $6.3 billion in funds left on the table when Wolf pushed forward nearly $24 billion of the $30.3 billion GOP budget.
Rep. Kerry Benninghoff, R-Centre/Mifflin, said he voted Jan. 11 to approve the increase in the state’s appropriation for Penn State to keep tuition affordable for students without increased taxes on Pennsylvania residents.
“Those who voted ‘no’ today have chosen to put politics before students in order to use them as leverage,” Benninghoff said.
Penn State, Pitt and Temple generally dedicate state funding to discounted tuition rates for Pennsylvania resident students. These universities expressed frustration with the outcome of the Jan. 11 voting session and the ongoing budget impasse that is delaying their funding.
‘We are extremely disappointed that state-related institutions continue to be left without an appropriation, which is critical to our operations,” said Penn State spokesperson Lisa Powers, in an email. “Throughout this year’s difficult budget process, it seems that all parties support adequate funding for Penn State and its sister institutions. That makes today’s vote even more puzzling and frustrating.
“We remain hopeful that the state will solve this impasse soon, but we are becoming increasingly concerned about the short- and long-term impacts of a more protracted stalemate on the university and the residents of Pennsylvania that we serve.”
While officials continue to hash out the details of the budget and university appropriations, the county saw some of its funds comes through when Wolf partially passed the GOP budget, which covers six months of back funding.
Money in reserve accounts has allowed Centre County to operate without delayed payments or services cuts through 2015. But before Wolf’s decision to send emergency funding to counties, the county took out a $10 million line of credit to cover expenses normally covered by state money moving into 2016.
However, last week Centre County received $5 million out of the $8 million that was due in the first half of the fiscal year, said commissioner Michael Pipe. The county is still concerned with how the impasse will impact the county as negotiations move forward.
“The state budget impasse has caused uncertainty in our ability to do planning and service coordination and it takes a lot of staff time to get line of credits,” Pipe said. “I’m anticipating another budget impasse come July 1 of this year. I would be surprised if the state has a budget on-time.”
