The Pennsylvania House on Wednesday effectively killed two bills for mass transit and overall spending — signaling that the state’s divided legislature remains at a stalemate over a budget on the eve of SEPTA’s funding deadline for enacting major service cuts.

The Republican-controlled Pennsylvania Senate passed a bill on Tuesday that would fund SEPTA and avoid major service cuts at the end of the month, but it's expected to face challenges from Democrats in the state House.

The Pennsylvania Senate came to Harrisburg and worked into the evening Tuesday night, passing both a spending plan and a transportation bill to fund mass transit. Although this is a positive step for Pennsylvania lawmakers,