Although students returning to Philadelphia are likely behind on Philadelphia and Pennsylvania political news, it's time to start catching up: Today the Pennsylvania House will likely pass House Bill 1828, aimed at providing relief to the Philadelphia city budget, after weeks of delays and political maneuverings.
The state entered a budget impasse on July 1, meaning that Pennsylvania entered the current fiscal year without a budget to guide spending. State law requires a balanced budget, and a $3.2 billion budget gap has fueled ideological squabbles for the past two months. Penn's own School of Veterinary Medicine is anticipating somewhere between a 16- and 24-percent drop in funding from budget cuts, and Pennsylvania is the only state still without a budget for this fiscal year. Clearly, this needs to be resolved quickly.
Even more paramount, however, is that HB 1828 passes and that the Senate also adopts the measure. Philadelphia, facing its own budget crisis, needs the relief that HB 1828 will provide or 3,000 Philadelphia municipal employees could be laid off. These jobs run the gamut from emergency responders to waste collectors - vital to the city's continued operation.
So far, holdup has centered on the politically sensitive issue of pension reform. Many unions were angered by language added by the Senate, which the Democrat-controlled House stripped from the bill. We urge the House to pass a bill tonight, and the Senate, despite their likely reservations, to pass a bill as well. The city's continued operation is more important than partisan squabbling.
