Pennsylvania Democrat Gov. Tom Wolf opted to line-item veto the Republican-approved $30.3 billion budget Tuesday, calling the legislation “garbage.”
The Democrat OK’d $23.3 billion in emergency spending to prevent school closures for six months and provide funds for medical assistance and corrections institutions, according to the statement from the governor’s office.
Wolf has called for a steep increase to the state’s sales tax and income tax to provide a record increase to the Keystone State’s education funding.
The $30.3 billion measure that passed both chambers last week would still raise the state’s spending levels on schools, but falls short of the $30.8 billion budget the governor wants.
“While I am appreciative that the governor will finally release some of his hostages and sent some of the monies out to our schools and human service programs; it is disturbing to realize that his partial veto is reflective of his demand for a higher sales or income tax to spend even more money,” said Pennsylvania House Majority Leader Dave Reed in a statement. “Apparently a $30.3 billion budget that increases education spending by over $400 million without sales or income tax increases is just not enough. When is enough…enough?”
Pennsylvania made history last week by surpassing its record for the longest budget impasse in state history. The state has gone without a budget since July.
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