Pennsylvania's state Senate is set to return to Harrisburg Monday afternoon, but with no agreed-upon solution for a state budget impasse that is already 10 weeks old, Harrisburg politicos say not to expect much more than a business-as-usual legislative session.
There has been some progress recently, at least when it comes to funding the state's public-transit agencies. But that does little for small nonprofits — such as AWARE, a group of domestic violence and rape crisis centers in Mercer County — who face financial turmoil unless the budget impasse is resolve.
"We are unable to make payroll," said AWARE executive director Megan McConahy Friday. "That's where we're at right now, so starting on Monday, everybody will need to go to a part-time schedule in order for us to be able to keep the doors open."
Fourteen workers that staff AWARE's three crisis centers need to deliver consistency to their clients, many of whom are survivors of sexual assault, she said. It's a 24-hour commitment required by the state.
Legislators across the spectrum, McConahy said, "need to sit down and compromise. These are people that we put into those positions."
Lawmakers will at least be in Harrisburg this week, when the Senate is set to hold three session days where they will deliberate on bills that aren't tied to the state spending plan. (Expected in the Appropriations committee, for example, are measures on salving the workforce woes of nursing facilities, expunging COVID-era citations for liquor licensees and protecting animals bred for research or testing purposes.)
The Senate Transportation committee will consider transportation funding bills that would require more state oversight and increased security measures for the state's largest transit agencies.
And Republican leaders, who control the Senate, say they appear to have convinced the state's largest transit agencies to request a one-time cash-injection from a state capital-projects fund to fund to help cover operational costs. A Philadelphia judge ruled last week that the transit agency there, SEPTA, must reinstate routes previously cut last month, though the agency can continue with planned fare hikes.
That approach is similar to one that Republicans have proposed in the past. House Democrats quickly shot down a GOP bill to use capital dollars to cover operating expenses, but Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro has said he's now open to the idea — if the plan includes a recurring funding source.
Republican Senate leader Joe Pittman hailed the move last Friday, saying Democrats may have decided to "put people over politics" to avoid a prolonged disruption to public transit.
"SEPTA and PRT's support for our approach to using [Public Transportation Trust Fund] dollars is a significant step to help end the chaos felt by riders over the last several weeks," Pittman said in a statement. But "House and Senate Democrats still haven't voiced support for … safety and accountability reforms to go along with the transit funding."
PRT did not immediately respond to a WESA request for comment. But the Philadelphia Inquirer confirmed that SEPTA sent a letter Friday to PennDOT asking for permission to tap the capital fund.
Shapiro, for his part, has maintained that he won't negotiate in public. But he said last week that progress continues on the impasse — but urged leaders on both sides to tamp down their rhetoric.
" The differences are narrowing and we gotta close the deal," Shapiro said at his most recent public appearance, during which he criticized new National Guard deployments to Democratic-controlled cities. But "leaders need to make some tough decisions. Part of the decisions they need to make are quieting some of the extreme voices within their own caucuses."
Top negotiators — including Shapiro, Pittman and House Democratic leader Matt Bradford — are still debating the rollback of appropriations for human-services agencies and the effectiveness of supporting cash-strapped school districts.
Although the state holds more than $10.7 billion in cash reserves, Republicans say it's important to spend as little of it as possible.
"We have a structural deficit that we have to be very, very attentive to, because if we don't start making some moves now to tamp down our overall expenditures, we're gonna have a real problem in a couple years," Pittman said in an interview this month with a talk-radio host.
Fiscal conservatives at the Commonwealth Foundation warn that Shapiro's proposed budget would result in the state operating a $4.8 billion structural deficit, which means the state spends more that it pulls in from revenue.
Last year's budget put Pennsylvania at a $3.6 billion structural deficit, the group said. But Democrats counter that lawmakers shouldn't fear spending what the state has on-hand: They say schools, transit services and the social safety net depend on it.
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