PA Gov. Shapiro vows to veto school voucher program he supports to pass state budget

Pennsylvania Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro announced on Wednesday that he would issue a line-item veto to block funding for a student voucher program that he supports in order to secure the passage of a budget for the commonwealth.

"Knowing that the two chambers will not reach consensus at this time to enact PASS, and unwilling to hold up our entire budget process over this issue, I will line-item veto the full $100 million appropriation and it will not be part of this budget bill," he said in a statement.

The Pennsylvania legislature is currently divided, with Republicans controlling the upper chamber while Democrats hold the lower. In making his announcement, Shapiro acknowledged the need for bipartisan consensus to secure the passage of key legislation and expressed support for the budget that the Republican-controlled Senate passed last week.

"Last Friday, the Senate passed a responsible budget that delivers critical funding to our shared priorities and sent it to the House for its consideration," he said. "Now, we stand at an impasse largely over one provision of this budget, PASS Scholarships, a proposal I support that has been passed by the Senate but one that Leader Bradford has made clear does not have the support of the House, where it was voted down in committee on Friday."

The Pennsylvania Award for Student Success (or PASS) voucher proposal, to which the Senate allocated $100 million, would provide financial support for eligible residents to attend private schools. Shapiro pointed to a memo from the Office of General Counsel asserting that such a program would require legislative assent rather than a simple budget allocation before acknowledging that such legislation would not secure passage in the legislature due to Democratic opposition in the lower chamber.

"Our Commonwealth should not be plunged into a painful, protracted budget impasse while our communities wait for the help and resources this commonsense budget will deliver," he asserted. "It is our responsibility to deliver a budget that addresses the most pressing issues Pennsylvanians are facing, and so with this commitment, I respectfully urge Democrats and Republicans in the House to now pass the budget bill that has been sent to them by the Senate and send it to my desk."

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on Twitter.