Wolf says Pa. stopgap funding ‘extreme hypothetical’
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf won't say whether he'd authorize a stopgap measure to get funds flowing to schools and social services. "I sort of avoid hypotheticals," he says. (NewsWorks file photo)
Gov. Tom Wolf is mum on whether he would sign a short-term funding measure to get state money flowing again to Pennsylvania schools and social services providers that have been cut off since July.
State Senate Republicans have said they plan to be in session later this month, and could consider stopgap funding proposals. But on Friday, Wolf wouldn’t say whether he would sign such a measure if it landed on his desk.
“I sort of avoid hypotheticals,” said Wolf, “and this is the most extreme hypothetical I’ve heard in a long time.”
His spokesman has said in recent weeks that the governor doesn’t endorse the short-term funding approach because it doesn’t solve the state’s long-term funding problems.
Meanwhile, a recent report from rating agency Moody’s notes “chronically late budgets” have socked Pennsylvania with a below-average credit rating, which means it faces higher borrowing costs than do other states.
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