Wolf Increasingly Irrelevant in Budget Debate

Veto Override Attempt Shows Gov’s Grip Slipping

October 28, 2015, HARRISBURG, Pa.—Today, the state Senate attempted to send schools much-needed funding by overriding Gov. Wolf’s Sept. 29 stopgap budget veto. The vote fell three votes short, but as public sentiment and members of his own party turn against him, Wolf has become increasingly irrelevant in the budget debate.

“The governor’s cynical tactic of holding school funding hostage to advance his tax-and-spend agenda is falling flat,” said Matthew Brouillette, president and CEO of the Commonwealth Foundation. “Wolf’s favorability is slipping faster than either Rendell or Corbett and nine members of Wolf’s own party voted against his latest tax plan. Pennsylvanians see that he has become the single roadblock to a state budget.”

A recent Quinnipiac poll has Wolf’s approval rating crossing over into disapproval more quickly than either former Govs. Corbett or Rendell in the first year of their administrations.

And a Morning Call/Muhlenberg College poll shows 41 percent disapprove of the job Wolf is doing, while just 35 percent approve.

At the same time as the Senate was voting, Auditor General Eugene DePasquale released an analysis showing that school districts have borrowed $431 million due to Wolf’s budget vetoes, with interest payments that will reach $14 million. Several schools have indicated they may have to close their doors in the next few months without state funding.

“Let’s not forget it was Wolf who touched off this crisis by becoming the first governor in recent memory to veto an entire state budget,” Brouillette continued. “After vetoing the stop-gap budget, Wolf explained ‘I want a fight’. If he continues to demand that students absorb the collateral damage, legislators have no choice but to act on their own, continue to attempt to override Wolf’s veto, and end the needless suffering in schools across the state.”

Matthew Brouillette is available for comment. Please contact Gina Diorio at 862-703-6670 to schedule an interview.

# # #

The Commonwealth Foundation transforms free-market ideas into public policies so all Pennsylvanians can flourish.