PA House Sends Short-Term Funding Bills To Governor, Veto Expected

By Tony Romeo

HARRISBURG, Pa. (CBS) -- As Pennsylvania's budget standoff drags on, the Republican-controlled Pennsylvania House has sent Governor Wolf short-term, stopgap funding legislation that is expected to be vetoed by the Democratic governor.

The legislation passed in the Senate last week and in the House Thursday provides about four months of funding, retroactive to the July first start of the fiscal year. With Halloween coming, Joe Markosek, ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, said the stopgap funding is loaded with "phony treats."

"That will only eventually trick folks into thinking that we have a budget, and then come the end of October, we're back here doing exactly the same thing again."

Republican Dave Reed, who is the House majority leader, says, "It's not a victory for Republicans. It's not a poke in the eye to the Democratic governor. It's a necessity."

The House passed the stopgap funding legislation in a vote along party lines.