Lacking budget deal, Pa. lawmakers try to ‘keep hope alive’

Pennsylvania lawmakers and Gov. Tom Wolf still had not come to an agreement on how to fund the state budget Monday afternoon, 10 days into a standoff.

GOP leaders say that won’t change before midnight Monday — even if everything goes perfectly from here on out.

“We logistically couldn’t get it ready in time,” said Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman. “It won’t happen today.”

That means Wolf will have to either let an unbalanced spending plan become law automatically, or veto at least part of it.

He hasn’t indicated what he’ll do.

There was some initial hope Monday that an agreement might be forthcoming before the midnight deadline.

But Corman said, while members might pass some code bills Monday, the major components of the plan won’t be sent to Wolf yet.

“We’re just trying to keep hope alive here and get things done,” he said. “We’re not going home. We’re doing what it takes, keeping ourselves busy getting this budget stuff done. And we’ll just keep at it.”

Wolf struck down a GOP proposal Sunday that filled the more than $2 billion budget gap with fund transfers, over a $1.5 billion worth of borrowing, and a gambling expansion that would create up to 10 “mini-casinos.”

He told leaders it didn’t include enough recurring revenue. They maintain that it did.