The Morning Call reports:
"Pennsylvania may go broke Friday for the first time in its history.
The state won’t have enough money to cover $860 million in scheduled payroll, bond and Medicaid bills, and neither Treasurer Joe Torsella nor Auditor General Eugene DePasquale is interested in authorizing another short-term loan as long as lawmakers are refusing to pay for the state’s $32 billion budget.
Such loans are meant as a temporary fix when tax revenues run short; the fiscal officials said, but the state has been treating them like a bank account, and that jeopardizes investments.
'To our knowledge, this would be the first time the commonwealth would miss a payment as a consequence of insufficient funds in the general fund,' Torsella and DePasquale wrote legislative leaders and Gov. Tom Wolf on Tuesday. 'Unfortunately, under the current circumstances and without the prospect of additional revenue intended to bring the commonwealth’s expenditures and revenues into balance, we are disinclined to support additional lending to the general fund.'
Wolf, a Democrat, has taken a back seat in budget talks for months, preferring to let the House and Senate Republican majorities fight it out."
The RGA points out:
"Wolf’s office won’t even comment on what his administration will do if the state does go broke. 'Wolf’s spokesman, J.J. Abbott, declined Tuesday to discuss the governor’s options.'
Pennsylvania needs a Governor who will do the job and lead. Tom Wolf has proven he can’t."
Previously:
