June 19th, 2008

Yesterday a Senate Budget bill was passed on party lines, 29 -R v. 21 -D, cutting $400 million from Gov. Rendell’s proposed plan.  However,  Republican leaders say that that the vote was only an attempt to push along budget negotiations to get a plan passed by June 30th, and was not intended to derail negotiations between the leaders and the Gov, reports the Morning Call.

Spokesman for both Sen. Vince Fumo (D-Philadelphia) and Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pillegi (R-Delaware) both say that the bill is “just part of the ongoing budget negotiations.”  Regardless, the bill cut $118 million in education funding that had been proposed Rendell, angering the administration.

“The Senate Republican bill is a recipe for more of the same: local property tax increases and insufficient resources for Pennsylvania’s students,” said State Education Secretary Gerald Zahorchak in a statement. Senate Appropriations Chairman Sen. Gib Armstrong (R- Lancaster) counters that enough money has been allocated to education for each district to see an increase from last year.

 The House plans to vote on their budget bill next week, while the final plan will be crafted through negotiations between the Gov. and the legislative leaders.