Vote on Skeletal Budget Could Come Today

A final vote could come today in the Pennsylvania House on a budget bill that would resume paychecks for tens of thousands of state workers. The spending plan is now 5 weeks late.
Representatives voted 187-to-11 yesterday to position the measure for final passage. Governor Rendell has said he would use his line-item veto to pare down the Senate Republican-backed spending plan so as to fund core government functions but nothing else.
G-O-P Representative Mario Civera says the maneuver represents a step backward for Pennsylvania.

"Let this go to the governor's office, let this be a stop-gap, and I wanna see the other side of the aisle in another month when the school districts aren't being reimbursed and the counties aren't getting their fair share, where they're gonna get the revenues. Answer that."

House Appropriations Committee Chairman Dwight Evans says Democratic leaders remain willing to listen -- and are open to a range of revenue options.

"Our members have said to us that they don't want a personal income tax. They have made that very clear. We abide by what our members say."

The governor says five times he has heeded Senate Republicans' requests to make deeper cuts and has trimmed $2.377 billion from his budget, but they have not moved on coming up with additional revenues. Once Rendell wields his veto pen, negotiations would continue on nearly 90 percent of the line items that contain money for everything from health care to education.