State to Print More Pink Slips

Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell says more state worker layoffs are likely, but the details probably won’t be announced for another month. Rendell says he’ll spend the coming weeks going over state agencies’ budgets with members of his cabinet. He says that means layoff decisions won’t be made for about another month, which will lead to poorly timed announcements. He says, “The unfortunate part is, by the time some of these layoff notices go out, some people will get hit during the holidays. And that’s something I deeply regret. But the better part of that news is, at least they got to work, probably, a few more months than they would have.” The final state budget trimmed about a half billion dollars from last year’s spending plan. Some agencies, like the Department of Environmental Protection, experienced cuts of more than twenty percent. Rendell also provided an update on table games negotiations. He says legislative leaders are coming to a consensus on the proper tax rate, and are working out the details of gaming reform initiatives. He’s hopeful a deal can be reached by the end of the week.