Credit: PA Internet News Service
A Pennsylvania court has ruled that while taxpayers have the right to bring a lawsuit against state officials, those officials did not violate the state’s constitution when they failed to approve a balanced budget.
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The ruling from the Commonwealth Court comes after Matthew Brouillette, CEO of the Commonwealth Partners Chamber of Entrepreneurs, then-state Rep. Jim Christiana and Ben Lewis, a small business owner in the state, filed a suit in 2017 claiming the Wolf administration used a line of credit from the state treasury to balance a budget deficit.
The trio said Gov. Tom Wolf and the General Assembly had a duty to cut spending when budget deficits were realized. In particular, they noted the $31.18 billion budget passed for the 2017-18 fiscal year did not have a revenue plan to support it. That budget became law when Wolf opted not to sign the bill after it had been on his desk for 10 days.
However, Judge Michael H. Wojcik, in writing the court’s opinion, said using a line of credit to fund a budget deficit did not mean the state took on debt with a party outside of the state government.
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“(T)his Court cannot declare that the Governor, the Treasurer, or the Auditor General unconstitutionally incurred debt by authorizing the transfer of Commonwealth revenue between Commonwealth entities within the relevant fiscal years to facilitate the operation of the Commonwealth government for those fiscal years,” Wojcik wrote.
Wojcik also ruled Christiana, who served in the General Assembly at the time the budget package was approved, did not have the same legal footing as Brouillette and Lewis to challenge state officials.
While the courts did not rule in favor of Brouillette, who leads a nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy organization focusing on improving the state’s economic climate, he still took comfort in the court saying he had the right to present the case.
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“This ruling marks the first time the court has specifically confirmed Pennsylvania taxpayers have legal recourse to hold elected officials accountable for unconstitutional budget shenanigans,” he said in a statement. “This changes the game for every state budget moving forward.”
Brouillette also questioned the court’s ruling, which said Wolf was in good standing when he let the budget bill take effect without his signature. Wojcik cited that unlike the president of the United States or governors in some states, Pennsylvania’s governor does not have pocket veto authority, which means a bill presented after the Legislature adjourns cannot become law without the governor’s signature.
To Brouillette, that means Wolf and future governors have “an escape hatch” from their fiscal duties.
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“If the governor can avoid the requirements of the law by doing nothing, then the law is meaningless,” he added. “Still, legislators should be on notice that the court clearly outlined how and when taxpayers can challenge future unconstitutional budgets, and we stand ready to do so should the General Assembly again pass a spending plan with no way to pay for it.”
A message to Wolf’s spokesperson was not returned.
