Budget brinksmanship leaves last-minute Pa. bills in doubt
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Republicans who control the Pennsylvania Legislature are inserting some pet policy objectives into hundreds of pages of just-unveiled legislation with the annual budget deadline days away, forcing Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf to make hard choices.
Amid the deadline brinksmanship, measures expected to advance today included a $34 billion budget package and changes to laws that govern elections, public schools and human services.
One GOP-backed provision could make Wolf decide between eliminating a decades-old cash assistance program for the poor and continuing state subsidies for Philadelphia hospitals. Another provision inserted into a sprawling budget-related bill would stall any move by Philadelphia to ban plastic bags or impose a fee on reusable bags that many stores provide.
Wolf in 2017 vetoed a bill that sought to prevent counties and municipalities from taxing or banning plastic bags.
Late Wednesday, Republicans inserted a provision to authorize up to $90 million in state aid to help counties buy new voting machines into legislation that makes changes to election laws.
One of those changes includes ending a ballot option that allows voters to simply select a straight-party ticket in elections. It comes as Republicans worry that waves of moderate suburban voters inflamed by President Donald Trump could also punish down-ballot Republican candidates in the 2020 election.
Wolf hasn’t said how he’ll handle bills that include provisions hotly opposed by his Democratic allies in the Legislature.