HARRISBURG – State Senator Gene Yaw (R-23) today voted for a three-bill “stop gap” budget package aimed at providing critical financial relief to school districts and social service agencies impacted by the prolonged budget impasse. The bills were approved and sent to the House of Representatives for consideration. The House is expected to re-convene on Monday, September 21st.
Passage of the stop gap spending plan is the latest effort by Senate Republicans to help schools, counties, municipalities, agencies and contractors that saw their state payments end July 1st, following Governor Wolf’s budget veto on June 30th.
“I think the Governor is really overlooking the fact that our government has three co-equal branches, and we all have to get along,” Yaw said. “So far, he has shown virtually no inclination whatsoever to compromise. Despite the fact that 70 percent of the spending items in the budget passed by the Legislature were the same or greater than what he proposed in his own budget, Gov. Wolf chose to veto the entire bill. The Governor essentially vetoed some of the very things he asked for.”
The three-bill budget package approved by the Senate today would provide $11.2 billion in state allocations, restoring funding for critical programs and services. The stop gap budget also allocates the federal money Pennsylvania administers for schools and local governments.
“These are important local services that affect our most vulnerable citizens: seniors, school children, at-risk youth and women in dangerous domestic situations,” Yaw said. “It’s past time to get funding to these critical programs.”
CONTACT: Rita Zielonis, Chief of Staff
(717) 787-3280