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Looming shutdown: Effect of county shutdown on municipalities would vary

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; Asked Wednesday about the possible shutdown now facing Luzerne County, Jeff Sheridan, press secretary for Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, said the governor is doing everything he can to reach a final budget as soon as possible.</p><p>But, Sheridan said, the governor can&#8217;t do it alone.</p><p>&#8220;I would hope that Mr. (Harry) Haas would also want the Republican legislators to act,&#8221; Sheridan said. &#8220;The governor can&#8217;t negotiate with himself.&#8221;</p><p>Sheridan was referring to Luzerne County Councilman Harry Haas, a Republican, who at Tuesday&#8217;s County Council meeting said the emergency &#8220;firmly belongs&#8221; to Wolf. Haas clinched a 6-5 vote that rejected an urgently-needed $20 million loan intended to make up for the loss of state funding during the ongoing state budget impasse.</p><p>Three local Democratic legislators &#8212; Mike Carrol, of Avoca, Eddie Day Pashinski, of Wilkes-Barre, and Gerald Mullery, of Newport Township &#8212; released a joint statement, calling the impasse &#8220;indefensible.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;At this point in time, the lack of a state budget is indefensible by anyone in Harrisburg,&#8221; the statement said. &#8220;Rigid ideological positions must be surrendered in favor of reasonable solutions that include an acceptance of the need for additional revenue.</p><p>&#8220;Budgets consistent with those approved in recent years are insufficient to meet the needs of our schools and human service providers. It&#8217;s time to put aside campaign rhetoric and make the difficult choices that define governing.&#8221;</p><p>State Sen. John Yudichak, D-Plymouth Township, said he shares every citizen&#8217;s frustration with the state budget impasse.</p><p>&#8220;It is unacceptable that we are putting schools, counties and non-profit organizations in the precarious situation of borrowing money to continue the delivery of vital services,&#8221; Yudichak said. &#8220;For months, I have been working with Gov. Wolf and both Republican and Democrat lawmakers to reach a reasonable compromise that would end the impasse with a comprehensive budget that improves the state&#8217;s fiscal stability, cuts property taxes and invests in proven strategies to improve our educational system and create jobs.&#8221;</p><p>Yudichak said he recently met with Luzerne County Manager Robert Lawton as part of his efforts to stay informed about the impasse&#8217;s effects on northeastern Pennsylvania.</p><p>&#8220;I was given no indication in that meeting that the county was in imminent danger of failing to meet its budgetary obligations,&#8221; Yudichak said. &#8220;Other counties in the commonwealth have met with state officials and developed prudent plans, including short-term borrowing, to weather the storm of a protracted state budget impasse.&#8221;</p><p>Yudichak said he remains open to discussions with any county official seeking assistance on how best to provide services to county residents for the duration of the budget impasse.</p><p>State Rep. Tarah Toohil, R-Butler Township, said the &#8220;dire straits&#8221; the county is in are a direct result of the governor having vetoed the entire budget. She said Gov. Ed Rendell, a Democrat like Wolf, never did anything like that during his time in office. Toohil said most agencies would get a 10-percent increase in the budget that Republicans passed (without a tax increase) on June 30.</p><p>&#8220;The people of Pennsylvania deserve an on-time budget and the impact of not having one is far-reaching,&#8221; Toohil said. &#8220;It is my hope that the budget stalemate will be resolved immediately and the people that we work for will not continue to be negatively impacted. Hopefully, the latest budget will have a two-year plan so that agencies can have more stability.&#8221;</p><p>Fellow Republican Rep. Karen Boback, of Harveys Lake, said she is &#8220;acutely aware&#8221; of the impact the state budget impasse has on counties, human service agencies and schools. She said that is why she voted for a budget override and a stop-gap budget to ensure schools and counties had the funding they need.</p><p>&#8220;Unfortunately, neither attempt was successful,&#8221; Boback said. &#8220;I will continue to work, along with my colleagues, toward a consensus that will benefit those I serve. That&#8217;s the key.&#8221;</p><p><strong>Progress has been made</strong></p><p>Sheridan said the governor recently reached a tentative agreement with Republican leadership and both sides are now trying to work through it all and finalize the budget.</p><p>&#8220;As the governor has said, he hopes to have the budget resolved by Thanksgiving,&#8221; Sheridan said. &#8220;But a lot of details still need to be worked out.&#8221;</p><p>Sheridan said there has been agreement on what he termed &#8220;an historic $350 million increase&#8221; in the basic education budget and another $50 million increase for special education.</p><p>He said there has also been agreement on $2 billion in property tax relief and major reforms to the state pension system and the liquor system.</p><p>State Rep. Aaron Kaufer, R-Kingston, said he remains hopeful that an agreement is near to ensure a county government shutdown doesn&#8217;t happen.</p><p>&#8220;This situation has gone on far too long and I hope a state budget is signed sooner, rather than later,&#8221; he said.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Yudichak </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_Yudichak-John2.jpg</photo0><caption0>Yudichak </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_haas2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Haas </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_haas2.jpg</photo1><caption1>Haas </caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_Wolf2.jpg">
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<div class="neCaption">Toohil </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_toohil012.jpg</photo3><caption3>Toohil </caption3><photoCredit3></photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_Boback-Karen2.jpg">
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<div class="neCaption">Mullery </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo8>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_Jerry-Mullery2.jpg</photo8><caption8>Mullery </caption8><photoCredit8></photoCredit8></div></div>

Looming shutdown: Local legislators say it’s time to resolve budget impasse