ICYMI: The Pennsylvania budget battle continues.
Shapiro urged the Senate to return to Harrisburg to sign off on the budget bill, and also to work with the House to pass legislation to direct how money in the budget bill can be spent.
In a statement, Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward rejected Shapiro’s portrayal of negotiations, saying the GOP gave him “all the goodies he wanted” in return for the voucher program, and that the governor still has the authority to get it in the budget. Other items Shapiro wanted in the budget bill — and that Senate Republicans agreed to in exchange for the voucher program — might need separate legislation to allow that money to be spent.
On Thursday, House Republicans rejected another effort to approve the aid, complaining that the schools are too willing to raise tuition and saying they would prefer to send money to students, not the institutions. Every Democrat voted for it, but 73 of 101 Republicans voted against the subsidies.
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