Call for Spending Restraint Due to Revenue Shortfall

With the shortfall in revenues continuing to grow, a top Republican in the House is expressing concern about the upcoming budget proposal for Pennsylvania. Governor Ed Rendell is scheduled to deliver his budget plan for fiscal 2010-11 three weeks from today. Disputes over revenue sources and spending levels led to last year's stalemate in which the budget was finally approved 100 days late.
Representative Mario Civera of Delaware County is the Republican Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. Civera says revenue shortfalls are increasing while the Rainy Day funds will be gone next year and that requires a more fiscally responsible approach to the budget...
"We need to put a program in place that we're going to control our spending, that we're going to watch our dollars, that we're going to evaluate the programs that are in place, and we're not going to increase taxes."
Civera says government has to be responsible for the people. Civera says currently the state is about $250 behind in revenues and by the end of June (end of the current fiscal year), the shortfall could be between $450 and $475 million.