The 2009-2010 budget process ran 101 days beyond the Constitutional target date of June 30th. During that time, many agencies were financially damaged, some organizations were forced to close their doors, and counties had to borrow money.
As it exists now, when the House and Senate fail to agree on a Budget Plan, the decision-making process is removed from the many members of the Legislature, and placed it in the hands of a Conference Committee of six members from the leadership of the two houses. These individuals of course represent the political opinions of their parties, and they should do that; however some of them forgot that Compromise makes for Good Government. They forgot that the citizens of Pennsylvania were depending on them to pass a budget. While the Committee debated, the people’s faith in State Government continued to erode. And the rank-and -file members of the State Legislature could do NOTHING until that Committee came out with a budget bill that they could vote on.
“The system must change--it is ludicrous to leave this process in the hands of six members ( out of 253 ), some of whom refuse to co-operate or compromise. We need fixed timelines and guidelines for orderly completion of the budget. We need language that sunsets and reconstructs the Conference Committee if they fail to meet those timelines. We need a system in which greater involvement by the general membership is possible. We need provisions for continuance of government operations if and when there is a budget impasse.”
To address this, Representative Hornaman has signed on to legislation ( HR 580 ) introduced by a Republican colleague, to form a Commission to address these very issues. This is a bipartisan problem that affects the entire Commonwealth--it’s going to take a bipartisan solution./p>
In the end, a budget passed that was as good as could be expected, given the severity of the recession, and the $3.3 Billion deficit. It continued to assist public education, relieving the pressure on property taxes, and it did not include any broad-based tax increases./p>