Gov. Wolf visits Philly school, warns of 'train wreck'

Gov. Wolf stopped by Penn Treaty School on Friday as a part of his "Schools that Teach" tour, hoping to drum up support for his proposed 2017 budget, one that a Pennsylvania GOP spokesman calls a "fantasy."

Wolf also warned of an incoming "train wreck" and a $2 billion deficit if last year's budget isn't agreed upon soon. He warned of tens of thousands of layoffs, higher property taxes and bigger classrooms.

The governor visited for about an hour, stopping in a number of classrooms before heading into the library where he reiterated his fight for education funding increases. Penn Treaty was Wolf's last stop of the day - he'd spoken at schools in Hazleton and Easton earlier in that morning.

While Wolf was obliged by law to deliver a 2017 budget by the last week of February, the state legislature still hasn't come to an agreement for a spending plan for the current fiscal year.

"We have to have a budget that balances and what I said on Tuesday is that we haven't been doing that," Wolf said. "We haven't been doing that for years. And it's not just me saying that."

On Tuesday, the governor called for a $33.3 billion spending plan that would raise more than $2.7 billion in taxes to remedy the deficit and ease public school funding. Beginning July 1, Wolf is hoping to raise the income tax to 3.4 percent from 3.07 percent.

The Pennsylvania GOP remains in strong opposition.

"Governor Tom Wolf is holding yet another taxpayer-funded political tour of Commonwealth to push his fantasy budget that would leave Pennsylvanians worse off," said Paul Engelkemier, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania GOP, in a statement. "For the past eight months, Tom Wolf has single-handedly held our students hostage by denying them $3 billion dollars in funding and wants us to forget."

Wolf fiercely opposed the party's criticism.

"I'm the one proposed higher investment in education," he said. "They're not. In my limited experience, if you're talking about anyone holding anyone hostage, it would be them."

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