AP: Pa. budget stalemate cost approaches critical mass
The collapse of a second agreement between Gov. Tom Wolf and top lawmakers threatens to extend the state government budget stalemate deeper into December, its sixth month. Here is the impact to date:
Layoffs: In October, a United Way of Pennsylvania survey of 282 organizations reported almost 700 employees had been furloughed, seen hours reduced or worked without pay. More than 500 others lost employee benefits, the United Way said. This week, the Easter Seals chapter for central and western Pennsylvania laid off 22 people and the rest of the staff – some 300 people – will take salary reductions of up to 30 percent.
School district borrowing: School district borrowing has hit $900 million, according to state Auditor General Eugene DePasquale. Philadelphia alone has borrowed $525 million, while other major districts taking out loans include Allentown, Erie and Scranton.
Pre-kindergarten programs: Today, a Pittsburgh early childhood center that educates 100 children under Pennsylvania’s state-subsidized pre-kindergarten program will close its doors, according to the Pre-K for PA coalition. Through the start of December, 15 had closed, according to the state Department of Education, affecting 538 children from low-income families enrolled in the programs.
Domestic violence shelters: Many shelters for victims of domestic violence have closed to new arrivals after hitting capacity or laying off staff to save money, according to Peg Dierkers of the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence. State assistance to help domestic violence victims afford a new place to live is cut off, making it harder for shelters to open beds, Dierkers says.
Schools might close: With hopes fading for a budget resolution this week, talk among some school boards is turning again to closing down – several districts briefly considered it in September or October – as they face the prospect of taking out new loans to stay open. Some school boards, including Greenville’s and Burgettstown Area in western Pennsylvania, are considering keeping schools closed after the holidays.
AP: More Pre-K Programs Closing Amid Pennsylvania Budget Battle
By Associated Press December 2, 2015
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – With budget talks dragging on in the Pennsylvania capitol, more early childhood centers certified under Pennsylvania’s state-subsidized pre-kindergarten program are closing without state aid.
The Pennsylvania Department of Education said Wednesday that 15 Pre-K Counts programs have closed. It says 538 children were enrolled in the programs.
This year’s prolonged budget impasse has entered its sixth month, forcing school districts, counties and social and human services organizations to shutter services, lay off employees, put off bills or go into debt to survive.
Children from low-income families qualify for Pre-K Counts, which serves nearly 14,000 children. Other Pre-K Counts providers are laying off staff or asking them to work for free.
Lancaster Online: State Budget Impasse: How are Pennsylvania’s Littlest Learners Being Affected?
By Kara Newhouse November 23, 2015
By the Numbers
Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts and the Head Start Supplemental Assistance Program allow preschools to open spots for children from low-income families. Funding for both programs has been on hold during the state budget impasse.
Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts
Children served in Lancaster County: 352 2014-15 funding to Lancaster County: $2.5 million 2014-15 total state funding: $97 million Wolf’s 2015-16 proposal: $197 million Head Start Supplemental Assistance Program
Children served in Lancaster County: 15 2014-15 funding to Lancaster County: $146,000 2014-15 total state funding: $39 million Wolf’s 2015-16 proposal: $59 million
As owner of Little People Daycare School in Columbia, Sam Bhattacharya is responsible for the paychecks of 16 employees.
But in recent months, he’s missed a few — his own.
Bhattacharya has skipped paying himself and also taken loans to keep the center open during the state budget impasse, according to school director Laura Hess.
If lawmakers don’t pass a budget by January, Little People Daycare School will have to eliminate 20 full-day pre-kindergarten spots, Hess said.
The center is one of many across the state and within Lancaster County that are trying to stretch limited dollars as state funding for early-childhood education is held up by the budget stalemate.
Pennsylvania’s budget has been delayed more than four months.
Funds on hold
One of the main early-learning programs affected by the budget impasse is Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts, the state’s free pre-kindergarten program for low-income families. Last year, the program got $97 million, with $2.5 million going to Lancaster County.
At Little People Daycare School, 20 of the 75 enrolled children are supported by Pre-K Counts funding. Those are the ones who would be dropped if a budget doesn’t come through by January.
Pre-K Counts classes in Lancaster city are in a slightly better position. The School District of Lancaster receives Pre-K Counts funding for 233 children and works with five partner organizations to provide those classes. The district has been floating funds from elsewhere in its budget to keep pre-kindergarten classrooms open during the impasse, according to a district official.
That’s helped pay staff, said Lucy Stauffer, director of children and family services for Lancaster Recreation Commission, which is one of the district’s partners. The Rec Commission has 40 Pre-K Counts slots in its early childhood centers.
Though they’re receiving the district funds, the program is still feeling the squeeze. Stauffer said the budget impasse also has held up Keystone Stars grants — a state funding source that’s used for stocking classrooms.
That has prevented Stauffer from purchasing supplies “beyond the bare minimum.”
She has replenished cleaning products and safety items, as well as markers and crayons. But science and math materials that cost a little extra?
Those had to wait.
So did gardening equipment.
“We’re going to miss out on being able to plant for the fall the stuff that will come up in spring,” Stauffer said.
Lancaster Online: Editorial: Hope for a Budget, with K-12 Funding
The LNP Editorial Board Nov 18, 2015
The “framework” budget agreement being negotiated between Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf and Republican legislative leaders includes $350 million more for basic education and $50 million more for special education. The governor’s spokesman, Jeff Sheridan, also says the governor is committed to seeking $50 million more for preschool education. A 21 percent boost in the state sales tax to 7.25 percent statewide (8.25 percent in Allegheny County and 9.25 percent in Philadelphia) would provide property tax relief. Distribution of that relief and safeguards against future property tax increases are being hammered out.
The boosts in funding to public schools that have been agreed to by both sides are perhaps the first true rays of light in Pennsylvania’s now 141-day-old budget stalemate.
Education has, according to polls by Franklin & Marshall College’s Center for Opinion Research, been the top or No. 2 concern of Pennsylvania voters since June 2014. It was the top issue of Wolf’s successful campaign. So, it’s good that all have agreed to a $400 million increase for K-12 education.
An added $50 million for pre-K programs — when done right save $7 for every dollar spent — should be settled quickly.
“It’s not that we oppose it,” House GOP spokesman Steve Miskin told LNP on Tuesday. “It’s about how much money we have.”
Given pre-K’s payback potential, Wolf is right to dig in on this issue.
A reasonable extraction tax on natural gas should do the trick. And that, unfortunately, is something Republicans have opposed.
While school officials are upset that it has even been mentioned, we will take the optimistic view that Republicans are not committed to requiring a back-end referendum every time a school district wants to raise property taxes.
On the downside, this awful proposal “is definitely being discussed” and “it has support” among Republicans who want some form of accountability on property taxes, Miskin said.
The idea is terrible — more on that later — but it addresses a legitimate concern.
“Once you cut property taxes, how do you make sure they don’t just go up again?” Miskin asked.
For a variety of reasons, a referendum on every future school property tax increase is not the right answer.
First, the school property tax is about the only form of local control school districts in Pennsylvania have.
Second, as David W. Patti, CEO and president of the Pennsylvania Business Council, put it, the proposal is “disingenuous” in the message it sends to school districts.
That message, Patti said, is: “We’re going to hold you accountable for results, we’re going to keep adding new mandates but we’re going to tie one hand behind your back” with a back-end referendum that keeps you from raising the funds needed to provide a good education.
We agree. The back-end referendum is neither fair nor productive.
Third, as Jay Himes, executive director of the Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials, said, a back-end referendum would set up a nearly impossible task for superintendents, at least in the short run.
Superintendents would have to focus more attention on building a case for public support for school budgets than on educating students.
Here in Pennsylvania, Himes noted, 175 school districts get more than half of their revenue from local property taxes. If such a school district were to face higher state-mandated pension costs, higher state-mandated charter school tuition bills and higher federally mandated special education costs, it would have to get that money from its 30 percent state funding.
PennLive: As Budget Framework Emerges, Preschool Advocates Fear They’ll be Squeezed Out: Analysis
By John L Micek
Gov. Tom Wolf and legislative Republicans may be working out the fine print details of a nascent state budget framework, but advocates for early childhood education programs already fear the state’s youngest residents could get squeezed out of a final deal.
“If there is one clear way to spend state money and know you are making a real difference, it’s on Pre-k,” said David L. Cohen, the Comcast executive who’s part of a coalition pushing for the increased funding.
And even though a final agreement on a spending plan that’s now five months late is still a week or two away, at minimum, Cohen and his allies have been working the phones and prowling the Capitol, urging budget negotiators to give the programs a serious cash bump.
How much?
Here’s the debate, by the numbers:
During his budget rollout in March, Wolf asked lawmakers to authorize $120 million for both prekindergarten and Head Start programs. The budget plan the Senate approved back in June included $30 million for the two expenditures.
The two sides clashed earlier this week over how much early childhood education funding was included in the emerging framework. The administration claimed $50 million, which Senate GOP leaders disputed vigorously.
Right now, as is the case with most of the budgetary fine print, the total tally is a moving target, those close to the negotiations said.
So why does the number matter?
It’s all about access.
According to data compiled by the Pennsylvania Office of Early Childhood Development, nearly 17,000 students are on a waiting list for those programs statewide.
Advocates say the $120 million sought by Wolf would pay for 14,000 children, while $60 million would pay for 7,000 children. The $30 million included in the Republican-authored budget that Wolf vetoed in June would pay for just 3,500 students. They say that’s unacceptable.
And viewed in that context, the drumbeat advocates were sounding in the Capitol this week makes sense.
It’s a budget season truism that those who squawk the loudest tend to be heard, and, as a result, have their programs funded (sort-of) close to what they’re looking for in the final document.
But as one veteran budgeteer pointed out this week, most everything in the framework is still a moving target, and while entirely fretting is appropriate, it might be a tad premature.
That’s particularly true in the case of early childhood education, which just about everyone in the Capitol thinks is a good idea and which experts agree is critical for future school success.
The benefits are quantifiable and indisputable – and the agreed-upon need is truly bipartisan,” Cohen said. “Unfortunately, far too many kids in our commonwealth are still not able to get into really good pre-k programs. The fix for this is within reach and is affordable.”
It’s also important to note here that one of the most vocal advocates for these programs is Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Pat Browne, R-Lehigh, who has never been accused of being a European Socialist.
As ever, the debate comes down to how much, not whether, to spend money. And based on public statements by the Wolf administration and the GOP, that’s where things are at the moment.
Wolf’s spokesman Jeffrey Sheridan said Thursday that “investing in early childhood education is a huge priority,” for Wolf, who is still “fighting for at least $50 million in increased funding for this year. It is unclear why Republicans are so resistant to this additional funding.”
The Notebook: Pa. budget framework supports major funding boost for public schools
By Kevin McCorry
Sources in the Pennsylvania Capitol say that the framework reached Monday for a state budget agreement includes a $400 million increase to K-12 public education this year.
While $350 million would be funneled into the basic education subsidy, an additional $50 million would go to special education. Pre-K programming would also see a boost, but sources differed on the amounts.
The state’s budget for higher education would increase by 5 percent.
“This is the first time that we feel like we’re moving ahead, and everyone is on the same track — as opposed to having a solid deal or anything final,” said Jenn Kocher, spokeswoman for Senate Republicans. “Nothing is agreed to until everything is agreed to.”
Gov. Wolf’s administration would not comment on any specifics. Spokesman Jeff Sheridan confirmed, though, that negotiations have progressed.
“We believe that there is light at the end of the tunnel,” he said.
A source close to the Wolf administration said that a framework had been reached for the 2016-17 school year as well. Under that scenario, $200 million more would be added to basic education, and special education and pre-K would each get an additional $50 million.
Neither Kocher nor a spokesman for House Republicans could verify those proposals.
Budget negotiations have dragged on for months after the June 30 deadline. Wolf, a Democrat, has prioritized a drastic increase in state education aid, as Republican leaders have balked at the package of tax increases that Wolf proposed to pay for it.
