Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro backed off his insistence on money for a new private-school funding program, giving the Democratic-controlled House the opening to approve a new state spending plan after a days-long stalemate in the state’s politically divided Legislature.
The chamber on Wednesday night approved the main bill in a $45 billion spending plan, 117-86, as the state government plowed through its fifth day without full spending authority.
The holdup was primarily over education spending — including Shapiro’s support for a new $100 million program to pay for tuition at private and religious schools that is a top priority for Republican lawmakers.
That first-ever “voucher” program had been a key element in a budget deal between Shapiro and Republicans who control the state Senate — and killing it opened the door to steps the Senate GOP could take to prevent the rest of the budget from taking effect.
The private-schools program had been opposed by Democrats, teachers unions and school boards, and Shapiro said in a statement that he would issue a line-item veto of the $100 million program should the House otherwise pass the Senate-approved spending plan.
In a statement, Shapiro said he was disappointed, but did not want to plunge the state into a “painful, protracted budget impasse.”
Some Republicans expressed shock at the turn of events after the House returned to session Wednesday.
