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State funding for Pitt, Penn State caught in Pa. budget impasse

Old Main is pictured on the Penn State University campus in State College, Pennsylvania. Philadelphia Inquirer

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HARRISBURG — After repeated legislative failures, Pennsylvania state House members have left Harrisburg indefinitely without passing funding for the commonwealth’s state-related universities.

Appropriations for the University of Pittsburgh, Penn State University, Lincoln University, and Temple University must pass the legislature by a two-thirds majority, a high bar in the state House, which Democrats control by a single vote. State House Democratic leaders ended Friday’s session with no resolution and blamed Republicans for the deadlock.

Representing Butler County, state Reps. Aaron Bernstine, R-8th; Tim Bonner, R-10th; and Stephenie Scialabba, R-12th, all voted against the bill. State Rep. Marci Mustello, R-11th, voted in favor.

“It’s frankly the absence of Republican leaders that failed to get them over the line,” said House Majority Leader Matt Bradford, D-Montgomery. “We look forward to them coming to their senses.”

The legislature passes bills that provide state funding to these four universities during summer budget negotiations, which so far this year have been fraught and are currently at an impasse. The GOP-controlled state Senate left Harrisburg earlier this week without providing a needed signature on the main budget bill, protesting Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro’s vow to veto a school voucher program he earlier supported.

Bradford said that negotiations over the universities, and the deadlocked budget generally, need a “reset.” The state House has no set return date.

Related Article: State funding for Pitt, Penn State caught in Pa. budget impasse

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