HARRISBURG, Pa. — Lawmakers in Harrisburg have just days left to finalize a spending plan as an important deadline bears down on the state capitol.
FOX43 asked Lt. Governor Austin Davis when the budget will be done.
"I think we’re going to be here until we get it right," said Davis, a Democrat serving his first term as lieutenant governor. "I think it’s more important to get it right than to get it done early."
Talks have been underway, but legislators might already be too late.
"It’s probably unlikely they’ll hit that June 30th mark," said Berwood Yost, director of the Center for Opinion Research at Franklin & Marshall College.
Davis said it comes down to dollars.
"I suspect the issue is not going to be what we fund or how we fund it, it’s going to be what the dollar amounts are," he said.
The two sides may be farthest apart on public education.
Pennsylvania State House Democrats passed a bill to increase basic education funding by $5.4 billion over seven years, addressing the Pennsylvania court ruling that the state’s education funding is unconstitutional.
Pennsylvania Senate Republicans contend it’s too expensive, worried it would cut into the state’s estimated $14 billion surplus.
"If they can agree on some basic numbers around education funding, other things will happen rather quickly, but I’m not sure how close they are," Yost said.
If an agreement isn’t finalized by Sunday, it’d be the second late budget in two years.
"There really aren’t immediate consequences," Yost said of a late passage. "There is pressure that starts to build after a certain amount of time, but last year we didn’t have a budget until December."
It’s a busy week in Harrisburg. Legislators have committee meetings scheduled throughout the weekend as they try to hammer out a deal.
If the budget doesn’t pass before the deadline, it won’t impact state funding or state employees -- at least not right away.
Yost said things will still run as normal, but there will be more incentive for both sides to reach an agreement.