July 8, 2016
The news this week is that there is no news. The General Assembly sent a 2016-2017 General Appropriations Bill to Gov. Wolf for his signature last week, and it has been sitting on his desk ever since. The Governor has stated that he will not sign the budget bill until the legislature passes legislation to ensure there is enough money to foot the bill, and that hasn’t happened yet. Budget talks were on again, off again throughout the week, but no firm plan has yet materialized. House and Senate leadership in both caucuses continue to debate increasing tobacco tax, expanding gaming and reinstating the gross receipts tax on natural gas as ways to raise revenue; this week there was also a suggestion that the Commonwealth borrow the money from the State Workers’ Insurance Fund, known to most as SWIF.
So things in the capitol city remain in a holding pattern. The House of Representatives has announced they plan to return to Harrisburg for voting session on Sunday, July 10 at 4 p.m., and then on Monday, July 11 and Tuesday, July 12. The Week Ahead has not been published, and no committee meetings have been sunshined, nor has the Senate announced their intent to return any time soon. However, the Governor only has until Monday to act on the budget bill, so there’s reason to be cautiously optimistic that something will transpire over the next 72 hours. Stay tuned to this blog or follow us on Twitter @BuchananLobbyists for updates.