State Budget May Not Meet Deadline

The Rendell administration has never passed a budget on time since Rendell took office...and this year the pattern looks like its going to continue. No bill has reached the Governor’s desk as of Friday night. Rendell says, "were not going to pass it by tomorrow (Saturday) but well be able to keep working and Im optimistic well pass a good budget and the right budget." The state budget is constitutionally required to be signed into law by midnight on June 30th. Representative Pat Harkins says the potentially missed deadline is not solely the fault of disagreements in negotiations on the floor. He says there are major health concerns among three legislators... a heart attack, low blood pressure and a death in the family. Harkins adds the major issues in the budget are transportation and education funding followed by energy initiatives the Governors trying to pass which are also slowing down the process. Members of the GOP say Rendell is asking for more money than the house or the senate are willing to give. "The consensus among the general assembly is that we should have a budget that’s in the 2 to 3 percent spending increase range. The Governor wants much more than that and that’s where the battle lines are drawn right now." Currently the budget has a 27-billion dollar spending plan which is about a 2.7 percent increase from last year. Lawmakers hope not to push the deadline too much past Tuesday.