July 21st, 2009

Yesterday, the Senate approved their amendment to the House’s budget, which effectively cut it from $29.1 billion to $27.1 billion.  The vote was 31-19, with Sen. Lisa Boscola (D-Northampton) voting with the Republicans, since she says Pennsylvanians cannot afford to have their taxes raised right now, reports The Morning Call.

The Senate’s budget bill restores $1.3 billion for higher education that the House Democrats had left unfunded and uses many of the one-time revenue sources the House Republicans had to balance their plan without raising broad-based taxes. 

Those one-time sources include cash from oil and natural gas drilling leases, a hefty withdrawal from the state’s Rainy Day Fund savings account, a dip into the surplus from a fund that provides state-subsidized malpractice insurance for physicians and a transfer from the Senate’s own surplus accounts.

The House has three options when it comes to dealing with the Senate-amended bill: It can approve it, amend it, or reject it.

”Our strategy is dependent on what’s in the [Senate] amendment,” said Brett Marcy, a spokesman for House Majority Leader Todd Eachus, D-Luzerne, whose office sets the voting calendar.

During floor debate, Senate Democrats accused their Republican colleagues of ”taking a meat ax” to valued social programs.

Boscola, in a fiery speech, railed against what she described as excessive state spending, even as Pennsylvanians learned to make do with less.

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With the House having the next move, the Senate has now recessed and is on 6-hour call.

If you’re interested in seeing how the Senate’s new proposal (HB 1416 amendment) stacks up to their original plan (SB 850) check out the comparison chart.

Read more about the Senate’s budget plan in the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.