PA Senate To Consider Temporary Funding Later This Month

By Tony Romeo

HARRISBURG, Pa. (CBS) -- The state Senate is planning to return to session later this month to consider stopgap legislation to provide temporary funding until a state budget is passed. But any stopgap bill or bills would require approval of the governor.

After House majority Republicans last month failed to override parts of Governor Wolf's budget veto, and with Pennsylvania now in its third month without a budget and no agreement in sight, Senate Republicans will try a different approach. Jennifer Kocher is the spokeswoman for the Senate majority leader.

"The Senate has decided to schedule session at this point," says Kocher, "to come back on the week of the 14th in order to consider stopgap funding that would help many of the social service agencies and even some of the schools."

Kocher says what form the stopgap legislation would take – including the length of time that temporary funding would be provided – is still under discussion.

Such legislation, however, would require the governor's signature and a spokesman for Wolf says the governor is "not considering" a stopgap budget.