Pa. Senate Sends Scaled-Down Budget To The Governor

By Tony Romeo

HARRISBURG, Pa., (CBS) -- The ball is in Governor Wolf's court after a desperate state Senate Wednesday sent the governor a budget he doesn't want. The governor can sign the bill, or veto in it whole or in part.

After the House Wednesday nixed an anticipated vote on a budget that Governor Wolf had agreed to, the Senate used a parliamentary procedure to resurrect a bill that had been sent over by the House days ago that represents a full-year budget but one smaller that the governor wants. Vincent Hughes of Philadelphia is the ranking Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee.

"The House Republican caucus is scuttling the whole thing, and not allowing us to move the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania forward," said Hughes.

Republican Jake Corman, the Senate majority leader, says this is not the end of the budget discussion, but:

"Having said that, this is the only way to get a budget to the governor before Christmas, so that we can start driving out money to our schools, to our social services," said Corman.

The Senate passed the budget bill in a vote mostly along party lines.