HARRISBURG — An attempt by House Republicans to send public funding to the University of Pittsburgh, Penn State University and other institutions of higher learning failed Monday after Democrats said that with the state budget still incomplete, Pennsylvania does not have the money.
Each of the measures received a simple majority but not the two-thirds vote required of certain appropriations bills.
Nearly all Republicans supported the bills, with those who spoke on the House floor saying that after Gov. Tom Wolf used line-item vetoes to reduce the budget he signed into law last month, the state was left with enough revenue to fund the universities, which are not owned by Pennsylvania but receive state support.
Democrats countered that with important portions of the budget incomplete, it was not appropriate to send money to the state-related universities. Mr. Wolf made significant cuts to funding for K-12 education, prisons and other areas, while saying that legislators needed to return to the Capitol to finish the budget. With the state-related universities included, the budget sent to Mr. Wolf would need additional revenue to balance.
“We should wait until we have a real budget that has real revenues, that allows us to take care of all our appropriations, particularly public education, K through 12,” Minority Leader Frank Dermody, D-Oakmont, said Monday on the House floor.
House Majority Leader Dave Reed, R-Indiana, countered that as a result of the line-item vetoes, the state is expected to take in billions of dollars in revenue that have not been budgeted for spending.
“It seems appropriate that we use a small portion of those dollars to make our college students whole, to keep our commitment to higher education,” Mr. Reed said.
The Senate had already passed the bills, which would have boosted funding by 5 percent over last year’s levels for Pitt, Penn State, Temple University in Philadelphia and the veterinary activities of the University of Pennsylvania. Lincoln University would have gotten a 7 percent increase in funding.
Jeffrey Sheridan, spokesman for Mr. Wolf, said in a statement that investment in higher education is important, but that the bills to pay the universities came without funding.
“Unfortunately, House Republican leaders are still not serious about the budget,” he said. “Today, they tried to enact new funding for the state-related universities without paying for it.”
Ken Service, vice chancellor for communications at Pitt, said the university was disappointed by the vote.
“We really think higher education is a priority for the commonwealth,” he said. “We’ve been doing what we can to mitigate the impact on our students and their families. We can’t do that forever.”
Karen Langley: klangley@post-gazette.com or 717-787-2141 or on Twitter @karen_langley
First Published January 11, 2016, 10:59pm
