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Wolf finds flaws

Pa. budget bill needs work, governor says

HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania House of Representatives on Tuesday passed the main appropriations bill in a nearly $31.6 billion budget plan, but lawmakers failed to persuade Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf that the plan is either balanced or adequate.

With two days until the state’s 2016-17 fiscal year deadline, Wolf refused to endorse the House’s spending plan that he said does not include enough revenue to “truly” address a long-term deficit. He said he hoped the Senate would fix the flaws.

“I haven’t agreed to this and as far as I can tell, there’s still some things to be worked out,” Wolf said during a regularly scheduled appearance on a Pittsburgh radio station.

While it is not “a helpful thing to basically throw it over to the Senate ... what I see so far I’m concerned about, greatly concerned,” he added.

The Republican-controlled House passed the main appropriations bill, 132-68, with support from Democratic leaders, putting Wolf in a position of criticizing a plan his close allies are backing.

Among the seven House members who represent parts of Butler County, five voted to approve the budget and two voted against it.

Those favoring the budget were Tedd Nesbit, R-8th; Brian Ellis, R-11th; Jim Marshall, R-14th; Jeffrey Pyle, R-60th; and R. Lee James, R-64th.

Voting against were Jaret Gibbons, D-10th; and Daryl Metcalfe, R-12th.

The budget calls for a 5 percent increase in spending and holding the line on state taxes on income and sales, House officials said.

Top Senate officials also have been cool to the House’s spending and tax plans, and many details about them remain under wraps. One of those items is the question of where the House will find the money to pay for what could be billions of dollars in borrowing for school construction costs in the coming years. Another item is a full slate of proposed tax increases on cigarettes and other tobacco products that House leaders are developing.

House Appropriations Committee Chairman Bill Adolph, R-Delaware, and House Democratic leaders insisted Tuesday that the budget package is properly balanced. However, they have not divulged information on how they came to that conclusion.

Further, Adolph suggested that the package of tobacco tax increases would not be made public until a broader agreement on spending had been reached between House and Senate Republicans and Democrats.

In addition to new tobacco taxes, the House’s plan to balance the budget includes tax and fee revenue from legislation it passed Tuesday to allow casino-style gambling online.

Besides an overall spending increase, the spending plan would increase public school instruction and operations by $200 million, or about 3 percent. Wolf sought $250 million more for schools and $34 million more to bolster heroin addiction treatment programs. The House plan also adds about $20 million for addiction treatment.

The spending increase is driven primarily by pension obligations and human services, as well as an attempt to balance a deficit that the Legislature’s Independent Fiscal Office has estimated could hit $1.8 billion in 2016-17.

Efforts to pass a budget ahead of the new fiscal year’s start follow a record-breaking partisan budget stalemate in Wolf’s first budget year.

In any case, House Republicans have already squeezed significant concessions from Wolf, who in February proposed a $33.3 billion spending plan.

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