Here's Commonwealth Foundation's weekly news roundup of policy issues being debated in Harrisburg and across Pennsylvania.
We hope you have a great weekend!
Shapiro Failed to Protect PA from Budget Stalemates
The people of Pennsylvania are now enduring a “double whammy” – a state budget that is more than three months past due, plus a federal shutdown. And Gov. Josh Shapiro, who has focused on increasing his national notoriety instead of protecting the Pennsylvanians he serves, has made the commonwealth fiscally unstable and its people vulnerable because of his inability to govern.
How did we arrive at this precarious moment?
Day 100 of State Budget Impasse
Wednesday marked day 100 of the state budget shutdown, which brought chaos to the Capitol rotunda, with partisan political theater from Pennsylvania House and Senate Democrats placing parties even farther apart at the negotiating table.
After previously rejecting and then resurrecting a Senate-passed appropriations bill, House Democrats today amended the legislation with $2.6 billion in additional spending—and no way to pay for it.
Meanwhile, Gov. Josh Shapiro—who launched the impasse with a budget proposal promising a $7 billion deficit—was nowhere to be found.
Philadelphia’s Educational Double Standard
The Philadelphia Board of Education has had enough with abysmal academic records — sort of. The school board recently voted not to renew the charter for KIPP North Philadelphia. The vote doesn’t immediately close the school but begins a deliberative process to decide whether to do so.
However, about a mile-and-a-half away from KIPP is another school that doesn’t seem to be performing very well, either: the James G. Blaine School.
Four Reasons Why Paying Unemployment Benefits to Striking Workers is a Bad Idea
If insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results, Pennsylvania House Democrats are long overdue for a mental health check.
In what’s becoming an annual tradition, Pennsylvania House Democrats want to pay unemployment compensation to striking workers. House Bill (HB) 145 passed the state House, with all Democratic members and four Republicans voting in favor.
