As Pennsylvania marks its 100th day without a state budget, Republican state legislators representing Butler County say Gov. Tom Wolf's conduct during the budget impasse is out-of-touch and irresponsible. They also say their constituents are telling them to oppose tax increases.

The lawmakers say there's little appetite among voters for higher taxes, and they accuse the first-term governor of refusing to negotiate with them.

They acknowledged receiving input from some organizations and individuals supporting Wolf's tax proposals, but said they don't believe their constituents are confident in Harrisburg's ability to tax and spend responsibly.

“The difficulty with a lot of folks is ... how it's spent,” said state Rep. Jim Marshall, R-14th, who represents portions of Butler and Beaver counties. “A lot of people feel that their tax dollars are not being put to good use.”

State Rep. Jeffrey Pyle, R-60th, said he hasn't been swayed by what he called mostly “canned, spam mail” from agencies and some school teachers asking him to support the tax increases.

Pyle said most residents in his district, which covers portions of Armstrong, Butler and Indiana counties, want him to oppose the tax increases. Wolf's latest proposal, unveiled Tuesday, would have raised more than $1.4 billion for the current fiscal year.

“The ones who are knowledgeable about it tell me to hold the line,” Pyle said. “I just did six town halls ... There's no doubt where my people want me to be.”

Other House members representing the county echo Pyle's sentiments on the proposed tax hikes, which would increase the income tax rate and add a new extraction tax on natural gas drilling.

State Sen. Donald White, R-41st, sees little support for tax increases among his constituents, who are upset over the lack of reforms to the state public pension system and who are concerned about natural gas drilling jobs leaving the state for places like Ohio.

“We already face the loss of 400 good jobs locally as one company is moving its operations to Ohio,” said White, whose district includes all of Armstrong and Indiana counties, and portions of Butler and Westmoreland counties. “The Wolf administration's severance tax proposal would certainly exacerbate that problem.”

The area's newest state representative, Tedd Nesbit, R-8th, said he is opposed to Wolf's plan as well.

“The residents of the 8th District, myself included ... are firmly opposed to such broad-based taxes at the heart of the impasse,” said Nesbit, who represents portions of Mercer and Butler counties.

The county's sole Democrat legislator, Rep. Jaret Gibbons, D-10th, said he believes agencies and organizations that depend on state funding, many of which were hit hard by funding cuts several years ago, see the impasse as a painful but necessary fight.

“I believe they're hoping that a little bit of pain in the short term ... will lead to a long-term solution that will help them serve some of our neediest citizens,” said Gibbons, whose district includes portions of Butler, Beaver and Lawrence counties.Legislators in the state House rejected Wolf's proposed tax plan on Wednesday by a vote of 127 to 73. All of the members representing Butler County voted against the plan.The vote was part of a deal between Wolf and House GOP leaders in which Republicans agreed to give the governor the spending plan he proposed if he carried Wednesday's vote.State Sen. Elder Vogel, R-47th, said the defeat gave him hope that “a conclusion may have begun” to the stalemate.“Governor Wolf seems to have realized he doesn't have the votes — even amongst his own party — to achieve his misguided goal of enacting the largest tax increase in Pennsylvania history,” said Vogel, whose district includes part of Butler and Beaver counties, and all of Lawrence County.Vogel said he “remains committed” to working with Wolf and the House to pass “a balanced budget.”Where the two sides go from here is not yet clear. Republicans like state Rep. Brian Ellis, R-11th, say they're resistant to further compromise and view Wolf as a loose cannon.Ellis, whose district includes Butler and Butler Township, called the impasse an unworkable situation created by the governor.“I can't compromise with someone who is stuck on implementing massive tax hikes on the backs of the elderly and the middle class,” Ellis said.“This budget impasse isn't about a severance tax; it isn't about pension or liquor reform,” Ellis said, “It's totally about one man's quest for every Pennsylvania resident and business to pay more in taxes.”Other legislators, like Gibbons and White, say compromise and “good-faith negotiations” are the only way for the two sides, who remain far apart after a summer of public sniping over fiscal issues.Wolf vetoed a Republican $30 billion state budget on June 30, and on Sept. 29 he vetoed an $11.2 billion stopgap funding bill that also would have released billions in federal tax dollars.Wolf called the Legislature's June budget “dishonest” and the stopgap measure inadequate to address a rising state deficit and the state's troubled credit rating.Republicans counter that Wolf's positions throughout the impasse have been untenable for them, and their latest attempt to partially fund agencies as the budget stalemate continues was the best short-term solution.State Sen. Scott Hutchinson, R-21st, called the situation “unnecessary and unfair” to schools and social service agencies.He added the political situation in Harrisburg is the worst he's ever seen.“This year's budget impasse is far and away the most publicly vitriolic I have seen during my time in the legislature,” said Hutchinson, whose district includes all of Clarion, Forest and Venango counties, and portions of Butler and Warren counties.Legislators' public reactions over the protracted impasse range from Hutchinson's stern disapproval to fiery outrage expressed by Pyle over what he called Wolf's “unconscionable” negotiating tactics.Pyle said, “I know how it's supposed to work, and what he's doing right now cannot be considered responsible by anyone.“I'm trying to be kind to the man ... but when you come out with just garbage out of your mouth ... this is not a political game of pingpong. There's people depending on that money.”Marshall said Wolf's decision to veto the June budget in its' entirety was an error that alienated many Republican legislators. He would rather Wolf had used his veto power to eliminate contentious line items from that document.“If people really want a compromise or a budget passed, I believe that ... the compromise was the budget we passed in June,” he said.Rep. R. Lee James, R-64th, whose district includes portions of Butler and Venango counties, said education and social services employees in his district want the impasse resolved.“They prefer business as usual to the barrage of propaganda coming at them out of Harrisburg,” he said.James said his constituents are split over how to resolve the impasse, with equal numbers asking him to support a progressive budget and a conservative spending plan.Ellis pointed to a Republican proposal floated earlier this summer that offered an additional $300 million in funding for public education, as an example of why Republicans don't feel further compromise is in the cards.“We already offered him his number one priority ... and he still said no,” Ellis said.State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, R-12th, who represents portions of southern Butler County, said he wants to cut Wolf out of the process completely.“My proposal is to override the governor's veto and implement the Republican, no-tax-increase budget we passed on June 30,” he said.Veto overrides are rare in Pennsylvania and require a two-thirds majority vote in both the House and Senate.Republicans make up 27 of the Senate's 50 members and 119 of the House's 203 members. They would need 33 votes in the Senate and 135 votes in the House to override Wolf's budget veto.Friday: A look at how several social service agencies and schools are impacted by the lack of a state budget.