One leader says deal must be in place by end of Thursday
By Eric Boehm | PA Independent
HARRISBURG — Republican legislative leaders and Gov. Tom Corbett say they are moving closer to a final budget deal.
But, after meeting for more than an hour Wednesday evening, they still don’t have an agreement.
Republican leaders from both chambers said the number of issues being debated behind the scenes has been reduced, but a few sticking points remain. The final spending figure will not exceed $27.3 billion, and is expected to come in somewhere between $27.1 billion and $27.2 billion after the removal of $300 million to an off-budget account.
One top Republican said the deal would have to be finalized in the next 24 hours, if it was going to cross the finish line before the June 30 constitutional deadline.
Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, R-Chester, said there “absolutely” had to be an agreement in place by the end of the day on Thursday.
“I’m optimistic that we’re going to be able to finalize things and reach an agreement in time to move the legislation to the governor’s desk before June 30,” said Pileggi.
House Majority Leader Mike Turzai, R-Allegheny, disagreed with Pileggi, but stressed that positive movement was taking place on a fiscally responsible budget.
“I never really had a deadline. We need to meet our constitutional deadline of June 30,” Turzai said.
Staff will continue to work through the night, and additional meetings are planned for Thursday morning between the legislative leaders and the governor.
Corbett declined to discuss the details of the budget discussions Wednesday evening.
“We’ve made substantial progress, and I believe we’ll have a budget done on time,” Corbett said.
Democrats, who are in the minority in both the state House and the state Senate, were not invited to participate in the meeting and generally have been kept out of the budget negotiations.
Among the issues still being debated is $300 million in Tobacco Settlement Fund revenue, which Corbett proposed to include in the general fund when he presented his budget in March. Legislative leaders want to see the fund — which always has been part of the state’s off-budget spending and is used to fund various health and welfare programs — moved back out of the general fund.
Turzai said lawmakers agreed to take it off the budget Wednesday, but Corbett refused to comment.
“It’s not a sticking point,” said Turzai. “In many ways it is a cleaner proposal with the Tobacco Settlement (Fund) remaining separate.”
If the Tobacco Settlement Fund is removed from the general fund, the governor’s budget proposal would drop from $27.3 billion in expenditures to around $27 billion. Corbett has said he would not go above the $27.3 billion spending figure and is willing to keep the Legislature in session beyond the June 30 budget deadline if he disagrees with the final figure.
By taking the Tobacco Settlement Fund off the main budget, Senate Republican leaders hope to add about $150 million in additional spending — mostly to restore some of the governor’s proposed cuts to basic and higher education and the state House’s proposed cuts to the state Department of Public Welfare — and still come in below the governor’s figure of $27.3 billion.
The increase in spending also is contingent on the governor agreeing to spend at least a part of the state’s $540 million tax revenue surplus.
In his budget announcement in March, Corbett allowed for $78 million in excess tax revenue, but has refused to increase that spending. The state saw an unexpected upswing in tax revenue during March and April, leaving minority Democrats to call for the use of the extra revenue to repair some of the proposed budget cuts.
Turzai said there was no discussion of a Marcellus shale impact fee during Wednesday’s meeting, and he said he believed the proposed impact fee would not be part of the final package.
Corbett said Monday that he would veto a budget that includes a natural gas impact fee, but Senate Republicans have been pushing for the inclusion of the fee. Corbett reiterated his opposition Wednesday.
