Treasurer: State may run out of money in August

That could force Wolf to make dramatic cuts

Harrisburg Bureau

HARRISBURG — State Treasurer Joe Torsella warned Thursday that Pennsylvania could run out of money to pay its bills by the end of August unless the Legislature quickly passes a revenue package to balance its budget.

That’s alarmingly early in the fiscal year, said Mr. Torsella, who added that he fears the state’s cashflow problems could last for a worrisome eight straight months.

“That’s not some distant prospect,” said Mr. Torsella, a Democrat. “There is going to come some real trouble soon.”

If the state did run out of money, Gov. Tom Wolf could be forced to make dramatic cuts.

Budget negotiations continue in private, and spokespeople for some of the leaders said they remain optimistic a deal can be reached — although they disagreed on when and provided no details as to why.

“Gov. Wolf continues to negotiate with Republicans and Democrats in the General Assembly and is optimistic that all parties can come together to balance the budget,” said J.J. Abbott, the governor’s spokesman.

Jennifer Kocher, spokeswoman for the Senate Republicans, said “there is a willingness by everyone involved to finalize everything and to do so quickly. We are close to a final deal.”

But Steve Miskin, spokesman for the House GOP, said he does not believe a deal on revenue will happen “right away.”

“Hopefully, I’m wrong about that,” he said.

Many of the hallways in the Capitol were empty Thursday. Both the Republican-controlled House and the Senate were in recess — with no definitive return date — and many legislators had gone home to their districts.

On June 30, the Legislature passed a nearly $32 billion spending plan, and Mr. Wolf, a Democrat, allowed it to lapse into law without his signature this week. Missing are the code bills, which further detail how that money is to be spent, and a revenue package that would outline where the state would get the money to cover those expenses.

Negotiators face the challenge of closing a $1.5 billion shortfall in the fiscal year that just ended — the largest since the 2009 recession