It might not seem like a lot is happening outwardly to advance the budget right now, but the ball is slowly rolling in both Chambers to tee up the vehicles needed once the negotiations between the governor and the legislature are finalized. Yesterday, Senators Jake Corman (R-Centre) and Dominic Pileggi (R-Delaware) introduced S.B. 1431, a 2014-2015 budget bill. The bill was reported from Appropriations Committee and was given first consideration in the Senate. Last week a budget bill was also introduced in the House and had first consideration and was re-referred to the House Rules Committee. The appropriations language in both bills are expected to change dramatically once negations between the leadership and the governor’s office are completed, but with the June 30 deadline fast approaching, it’s good to see the flow of the legislative budget pipeline moving along.
The governor did make some comments yesterday at Governor’s Reception Room news conference regarding the challenging financial situation and the need for pension reform and some form of liquor bill. You can see the Governor make those comments at: www.pacast.com/m.asp?p+11999. After that news conference, the Governor’s Budget Secretary said the administration is not ruling out a severance tax. The Tribune Review’s report on Zogby’s comments can be found here (http://triblive.com/news/adminpage/6298816-74/tax-corbett-state#axzz34vtoU4aG)