Pa. budget pressure, policy agendas collide ahead of deadline
(Office of Gov. Tom Wolf)
HARRISBURG, Pa. - Toil on a $34 billion budget in Pennsylvania's Capitol is barreling into the final week of the fiscal year, as top lawmakers rush to wrap up closed-door budget talks on time.
The main objective is extending the state's spending authority for another 12 months without a long partisan fight that marked the first three years of power-sharing between Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf and the Republican-controlled Legislature.
The first votes on hundreds of pages of budget legislation could happen Monday.
Broad outlines about the package are known, but many details remain under wraps, withheld even from rank-and-file lawmakers.
The week also will be crucial to the policy agendas of Wolf and top lawmakers, as they rush to use the deadline pressure of budget negotiations to strike deals.