Another try at softening Pa. budget deadline under way

A Pennsylvania lawmaker wants to take all the drama out of the end-of session budgeting frenzy.

State Rep. Dan Truitt, R-Chester, is borrowing an idea that’s been offered before in Harrisburg.

In the event that no spending plan is finalized by July 1, he proposes having the old budget “roll over” to set funding levels temporarily until a deal is hashed out.

“Everybody who relies on funding from the state government gets worried as June 30 approaches every year,” Truitt said. “Even with an all-Republican legislature and Republican governor and intentions of getting it done before June 30 we’ve run to June 30 three years in a row now.”

The spokesman for the House GOP agrees softening the June 30 deadline would stop any rush to finalize a budget, but says it could also be seen as a disincentive to wrap things up.

The change would require a constitutional amendment — which means it would have to pass in two consecutive legislative sessions and then clear a voter referendum.