During the Friday visit to the West Philly Community Center, Governor Josh Shapiro said The legislators are “making progress” in budget conversations, although he refused to continue to comment on the content of the negotiations.
The state legislators have already missed the budget deadline for over a month, and the pressure is on the divided legislator Pennsylvania to reach a compromise before Septa introduces deep cuts of services on August 24.
“It is not an easy job, finding a common plane. But we are working on it,” said Shapiro.
Shapiro was at the Community Education Center at the University City to advertise his investments in community security programs and meet with students and teachers on the initiative of music education based on community outside the bars that received funds based on the program of intervention and prevention and prevention (VIP) at the beginning of this year.
Democratic representatives of states joined him. Amen Brown, Danilo Burgos, Morgan Cephas and Joseph Hohenstein, together with a member of the Philadelphia City Council Jamie Gauthier.
Although Shapiro called law enforcement agencies a “critical element” of a strategy for preventing violence in the case of weapons, he said that this was not “the only answer” and emphasized the need for a well -financed, “multiplied approach”.
This year, the Shapiro administration invested $ 85 million in VIP subsidies to over 130 projects in Pennsylvania, including 64 in Philadelphia. In addition to bars, it received USD 285,000 for the extension of operations to 56 music laboratories, located in schools, youth shelters, trauma clinics and cultural centers throughout the city.
The proposed state budget of the governor included an escalate in VIPs by $ 10 million, as well as another $ 10 million for a school learning program.
But when asked about the progress of the budget in Harrisburg, Shapiro refused to detail.
“I will not negotiate the budget here in this environment,” he said. “I think we all have enough respect for ourselves to keep our conversations in this room.
“The only thing I can say, we all agreed, with absolute certainty, is that we all have to compromise and that’s what we do,” he added.
In response to questions about the status of financing, Shapiro said that mass transit is “necessary” for the “economy of this community”.
He called all participants for the future of Sept to call the office of the GOP senator Joe Picozzi, who represents the north -eastern Philadelphia. Picozzi has recently shuddered a package of bills that septa puts under increased supervision, but without additional funds.
Due to the divided legislator of the state, Shapiro said, finding a common plane is “extremely vital”.
“It took longer than I would like, but I think we’ll get there,” he said.
