Editorial: Pennsylvania budget not done

OK, we know the drill.

It’s May. Almost June. That’s the time of year that Pennsylvania’s lawmakers and the governor get serious about their annual battle of wills over the budget.

They posture. They bluster. They make pronouncements about the value of their own spending plans and disparage the proposals of the other side. They come down to the sharp edge of the fiscal deadline. And all too often in recent years, they step over it, leaving counties, municipalities, agencies, school districts and employees to deal with the bloodshed.

It would be nice to think that something as catastrophic as the coronavirus pandemic and its attendant economic crisis could change that. And maybe Tuesday’s votes showed a glimmer of that possibility in Harrisburg.

The state House of Representatives passed a $25.8 billion budget package by a razor-thin four-vote margin. Six Republicans joined the Democrats in opposition, but it still edged through just hours after introduction. There was more bipartisan support in the Senate, where it passed later in the day.

The package gives breathing room for school districts and universities that are desperately trying to plan for a fall school year that could coincide with a second wave of covid-19 cases just as flu season starts up. Where public and higher education have both come to expect cuts, this package provides flat funding for the full school year.

But other parts of the budget don’t run through June 30. They don’t even make it half that far. Their funding will dry up Nov. 30 when the legislative session ends.

This could be a good thing. Because of the wild uncertainty of the pandemic and the way it has impacted different portions of the country and the state to diverse degrees, it would be almost impossible for anyone to make plans in late May for an unpredictable medical emergency — or lack thereof — in December.

Maybe we will need more social services in the winter to help through a second wave. Maybe that would overcommit resources where they wouldn’t be needed and leave PennDOT scrambling for enough salt to clear roads for people who are still going to work because the virus leaves the state untouched and nothing is locked down. It’s hard to say.

But if individual families and businesses are facing financial hardship amid the lockdowns, so is the state. Gov. Tom Wolf is projecting a budget deficit of between $3 billion and $5 billion.

What we don’t need is a delayed food fight over funding the remaining seven months of the fiscal year.

It isn’t that the two parties need to get in lockstep on a way forward. They have to agree that the outcome is more important than the politics — yes, despite it being a big election year.

Pennsylvania will not benefit by putting off the annual summer budget tug-of-war until Halloween. We need commitment from all sides to examine critically, listen thoughtfully and negotiate fairly to be ready for a seamless passage of whatever spending plan will pick up Dec. 1.