Lawmakers Get Budget This Week

Governor Ed Rendell presents his budget to the state legislature Wednesday and he says it will include things that are “painful.” Rendell says next year’s budget will include one billion dollars in cuts including the elimination of 100 line items. He says no special interests will be protected, but he hopes some of the programs cut will be reinstated when the economy improves. Among the cuts Rendell hopes will be temporary is the suspension of funding for DARE anti-drug programs. The Governor says the budget will also include an extension of this year’s wage freeze. On the revenue side, the budget proposal will include new taxes on tobacco and Marcellus Shale gas extractions but no increase in income taxes or business taxes. He says the trick is to find ways to cut spending while at the same time encouraging job growth and providing social services, health care and education support. Rendell’s budget assumes no growth in revenues. On average, the first six Rendell budgets assumed 7 percent growth.