As Pennsylvania’s budget impasse drags on, Senate Republicans are threatening to scrap a school funding formula adopted last year that targets money to the state’s poorest districts, saying it shortchanges other communities.

Democrats are opposing an amendment passed by the Pennsylvania Senate that would fund SEPTA, but rely on the Pennsylvania Transit Fund to do so. That fund is how agencies like SEPTA pay for capital projects like upgrades to train and bus stations,

Senators passed the maps in a 19-2 vote after nine Democrats left the floor in protest. Two Democrats — Judith Zaffirini of Laredo and Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa of McAllen — remained in the chamber, giving Republicans the quorum needed to proceed.

Former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown’s entry would give Democrats their top potential recruit, since Brown has been elected statewide five times in Ohio.

Robert Alexander, a professor of political science and founding director of the Democracy and Public Policy Network at BGSU, told Newsweek that Brown's reemergence in Ohio politic

Former U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, Ohio’s best-known Democrat, is expected to make another run for the Senate next year as Democrats wage an uphill fight to win control of the chamber