[naviga:h3]Governor defends budget tax plan[/naviga:h3]

HARRISBURG — Gov. Tom Wolf is defending a plan to lift state sales tax exemptions as part of a five-months-late budget deal with top Republican lawmakers to increase aid to public schools and narrow a long-term deficit.

Wolf said Thursday that Pennsylvania’s sales tax needs to be modernized and eliminating some exemptions would happen anyway.

Today, Wolf is expected to bring details of his proposal into a private meeting with House Democrats, while Republican senators returning to Harrisburg for the first time since Thanksgiving are expected to get a closed-door briefing on the details that have been settled.

Wolf said in a radio interview that he thinks a deal will be done much sooner than Christmas.

Negotiators say there’s no agreement yet on which exemptions to remove and Republican lawmakers say they won’t consider removing exemptions on things like food or clothing.

But there’s exemptions on many discretionary spending items, including salon services, dry cleaning, parking fees, tickets to sporting events or amusement parks, golf courses and bowling alleys.

[naviga:h3]Part of old Macy’s to become hotel[/naviga:h3]

PITTSBURGH — A developer is paying $8 million to buy two floors of the recently closed Macy’s store in downtown Pittsburgh with plans to build a hotel in the space.

Matthew Shollar, a Pittsburgh partner in the deal made by Reception Hotels and Resorts of Monsey, N.Y., said the sales price includes money to help Philadelphia-based Core Realty redevelop the entire building. The 155-room, “fitness oriented” hotel is expected to open in 2017.

The former Macy’s was originally a Kaufmann’s department store. It opened in 1887 before Macy’s bought the building in 2005. Core plans to turn the rest of the building into stores and apartments.