State House GOP moves to cut down extra budget spending

"Everybody out there believes we have $813 million dollars to spend when we really don't."

• Katie Meyer
  BioRecent Stories

  

  Katie Meyer was WITF’s Capitol Bureau Chief from 2016-2020. While at WITF, she covered all things state politics for public radio stations throughout Pennsylvania. Katie came to Harrisburg by way of New York City, where she worked at Fordham University’s public radio station, WFUV, as an anchor, general assignment reporter, and co-host of an original podcast. A 2016 graduate of Fordham, she earned several awards for her work at WFUV, including four 2016 Gracies.
  
  Katie is a native New Yorker, though she originally hails from Troy, a little farther up the Hudson River. She can attest that the bagels are still pretty good there.
  
  WITF's Capitol Bureau Chief Desk is partially funded through generous gifts made in the memory of Tony May through the Anthony J. May Memorial Fund.
  
  For more information about Tony May, click here.

 Matt Rourke / AP Photo

FILE PHOTO: The dome of the Pennsylvania Capitol is visible in Harrisburg.

(Harrisburg) — House Republicans hope to make it a little more difficult for the state to spend more than the money included in its official budget.

They’ve passed a slate of five bills intended to do just that–but Governor Tom Wolf is already indicating he won’t sign them.

One of the bills would have the administration freeze money in reserves to prep for projected shortfalls. Another would track off-budget grants, two would compel the governor to give the legislature more information, and one would detail how the administration should handle unspent money.

Wolf’ is currently seeking hundreds of millions in supplemental funds–which the legislature has to authorize–to cover over-spending and a revenue source that fell through.

Republicans have bemoaned the situation.

But in floor debate, Montgomery County Democrat Matt Bradford argued the legislature is complicit in insufficient budgeting.

“We could do a lot better,” he said. “Borrowing and not doing enough in appropriating so that supplementals become necessary in subsequent budgets unfortunately has become common in this body.”

Republicans argued the bills are simply an effort to make budgeting more transparent.

“We have an $813 million surplus right now. So everybody out there believes we have $813 million dollars to spend when we really don’t, because we have $748 million in supplementals,” York County GOP Appropriations Chair Stan Saylor said.

A spokesman for Wolf said he is “concerned” the bills may “limit executive authority to manage the executive branch operations.”

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