Pennsylvania Governor Vetoes Library Funding in Stopgap Budget

Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell vetoed more than half of a stopgap state budget bill August 5, approving only funds for what he termed “critical public health and safety services.” Among the funds Rendell eliminated, which amounted to $12.9 billion from a $27.3-billion budget, was $37 million for public libraries. The governor stated that he took the action to have “leverage on the Legislature” to enact a budget that invests in public education and avoids a deficit.

The state has been in a budget impasse since the fiscal year began July 1, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported August 6, with the governor and legislators unable to agree on how to close a $3.25-billion deficit.

Rendell’s veto is not expected to have an immediate effect on the state’s libraries, according to Pennsylvania Library Association Past President Mary Garm. “At this point we knew the budget would be an interim budget” she told American Libraries. “For the most part, the public library subsidy is paid out in January, the middle of the fiscal year,” she explained, so libraries would not be expecting state funds for several months. Garm stressed that PaLA would continue its advocacy efforts to ensure libraries are represented in the final budget.

Meanwhile, Mayor Michael Nutter warned that Philadelphia may be forced to close down libraries and parks if state lawmakers fail to approve a plan to allow the city to raise its sales tax and reform its pension system. Nutter also said he would cut hundred of police and firefighter positions if the legislature doesn’t approve those parts of the city’s $4-billion budget plan by August 15, Reuters reported August 3.

However, Senate Republican spokesman Erik Arneson said senators are unlikely to approve a bill containing the Philadelphia proposals separate from the state budget, and the passage of the interim measure makes it doubtful the budget will be approved by Nutter’s deadline.

—Gordon Flagg, American Libraries Online
Posted on August 7, 2009.

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