PENNSYLVANIA Emergency school funding gets Rendell's veto

HARRISBURG (AP) -- Gov. Ed Rendell vetoed a bill Thursday that would have enabled Pennsylvania's 501 school districts to receive funding if a state budget isn't passed on time, saying the measure would violate constitutional mandates for approving a balanced budget.
Under the bill, an emergency fund in the state treasury would provide districts the same amount of money they received in the previous fiscal year if a state budget was not passed by Aug. 15, a month and a half into the state's fiscal year. The measure was passed by the House on Feb. 4 and by the Senate on June 15.
In his veto message, Rendell said although helping school districts avoid uncertainty over their state subsidies was "an extremely laudable concept," the state constitution stipulates, among other things, that education funding must be included in the general operating budget.
"To remove this portion of the budget from either the negotiation process or the governor's purview is unconstitutional, unwise with respect to fiscal management, irresponsible on our part, and unfair to the taxpayers," Rendell wrote.
Republican lawmakers introduced the measure last year as a way to force Rendell to approve more than $4 billion in school subsidies that were held up amid a budget impasse. To compensate for the held-up state funds, districts last year borrowed money or used reserves to cover day-to-day costs.