The PA Budget is now on it’s way to Governor Josh Shapiro’s desk for his signature, but he has announced plans to veto his own proposal for $100 million for scholarships to private and religious schools, and that has the Senate Republican leadership upset.
The $45 billion spending plan that was approved last Friday by the PA Senate included $100 million for PASS, or Pennsylvania Award for Student Success program. According to Governor Shapiro’s announcement of the House’s approval of the spending plan, he said he felt the House and Senate would not reach a consensus on the item and was “unwilling to hold up the entire budget process over this issue” so he was going to veto it if the budget was passed by the House.
Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman and other senate republican leaders called Shapiro’s actions a betrayal of the agreement made Friday.
Pittman added that while Shapiro said that the budget is soon coming to his desk for his approval, the reality is that the budget is not yet complete.
Unless the Senate President Pro Tempore recalls the senate to Harrisburg earlier, they are not due back in Harrisburg until September 18th.
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