GOP’s budget veto override fails in Pennsylvania Senate

Democrats in the Pennsylvania Senate aren’t going along with a Republican bid to override Gov. Tom Wolf’s veto of a short-term spending plan designed to break a four-month stalemate.

Wednesday’s vote in the Senate came on the 120th day of a partisan budget battle between the first-term Democratic governor and the Legislature’s Republican majorities.

The override required 33 of the Senate’s 49 members, but all 19 Democrats voted against it. Wolf on Sept. 29 vetoed the $11 billion Republican spending package that sought to release billions in federal dollars.

Meanwhile, Auditor General Eugene DePasquale reports that borrowing by Pennsylvania’s school districts is on the rise. DePasquale says school districts have borrowed more than $430 million to keep their doors open, a number that could hit $1 billion in early December.