Pennsylvania Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward sounded adamant.

“We’re certainly not going to raises taxes,” she said.

The Hempfield Republican was speaking at the Westmore­land County Chamber of Commerce “State of the State” breakfast. It was a gathering of government and business leaders, so naturally the topic turned to money, how it gets spent and how it gets raised.

The state has a mandated deadline to pass its budget. That comes June 30, before the fiscal year starts July 1.

However, the federal government’s year starts Oct. 1, which gives Washington an entirely different set of priorities than Harrisburg.

The problem is that Harrisburg’s plans can often rely on what happens between the White House and Congress.

There is an element of “how do you like it” to this.

For years, the governors and legislators of both parties in Pennsylvania have treated the budget deadline as a vague suggestion. They play their political games with no appreciation for what the impact of not passing the budget on time will be for school districts, municipalities, counties and other agencies.

Sometimes they overshoot by just a few days or a few weeks.

Sometimes it is months. Occasionally, they stray into the next calendar year.

Whatever it is, it is always accompanied by strident words about priorities and the people when generally the people would like to have the library open and the school board not borrowing money in anticipation of revenue that hasn’t been received from the state.

No one wants to pay more taxes. Pennsylvanians are stretched to the edge financially right now. Many other government bodies are already forced to raise taxes. Keeping a firm rein on that idea is important.

But so is realism. The state has a lot of projects and programs that must be funded. There is uncertainty about whether or by how much the federal government may contribute.

This is not a year for the Democratic governor, the Democratic House and the Republican Senate to be holding each other hostage about the budget.

This is a year to recognize that the whole state is in this together, and if we are going to make it through the storm of inflation, tariffs and confusing messaging from Washington, it’s time to stop looking at each other as enemies.

Now go pass a budget. You have only 29 days — in theory.

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