With the Pennsylvania General Assembly divided – the House is controlled by Democrats and the Senate is controlled by Republicans – it probably shouldn’t be a surprise that the 2024-2025 state budget is late.

The state runs on a July through June fiscal year, meaning the General Assembly had a June 30 budget deadline.

At this point, that spending plan is 10 days late.

The level of impact depends on the extent of the delay with school funding perhaps the most relevant local consequence.

Warren County’s representatives have commented on that delay.

“Our Senate Republican Caucus remains committed to producing a pro-growth budget which will empower Pennsylvanians,” state Senator Scott Hutchinson said in a newsletter, “and is equally honest with taxpayers about our state’s fiscal health both now and in the future.”

Rapp acknowledged the delay in her most recent newsletter.

“Majority House Democrats and Gov. Josh Shapiro are continuing to push a plan that spends more than $48 billion,” she said. “That’s $3.7 billion, or 8%, more than the prior year and, more importantly, it’s beyond anticipated revenue for this fiscal year.”

Rapp said that the Shapiro budget “would require spending one-time reserve funds to balance.

“And when those reserve funds run out in a couple years, it would ultimately result in increased taxes for all Pennsylvanians,” she said. “Rather than use the state’s reserves to start new, recurring programs, I support returning those excess funds to the taxpayers in the form of a cut in the Personal Income Tax and elimination of the Gross Receipts Tax on energy.”

“In addition to discussions about how best to use the state’s surplus, another major point of negotiation is funding our students’ education,” Rapp added.

“I will continue to advocate for a budget that funds the core functions of government and eliminates waste.”

Both the House and Senate were in session on Tuesday and will be on Wednesday and Thursday, as well.

“We have been diligently working to come to consensus on a final product,” Hutchinson said. “Additional session days will be added as needed to complete the budget as quickly as possible.”