HARRISBURG — Hours after the state Senate approved a plan to balance Pennsylvania’s $32 billion budget with new taxes, the measure was criticized by Republicans in both chambers of the General Assembly.

State Sen. Elder Vogel, R-47th, said he voted against the revenue package “based on the wishes of the constituents in my district.”

“The tax increases will impact individuals and families in Pennsylvania who are already struggling to meet their own financial obligations,” Vogel said in an emailed statement. “Asking that they pay even higher taxes for basic necessities like electricity and heat will only make those struggles worse.”

Underscoring the politics surrounding the Senate’s package, even senators who ended up supporting the bill said they were doing so with reservations.

State Sen. Don White, R-41st, said Thursday before the vote that he was conflicted over whether to support the legislation, citing misgivings over the package’s reliance on increasing gross receipt taxes for things like natural gas consumption, phone service and electric bills.

“I think in the end we’re basically nickel-and-diming our constituents back home with all these taxes,” White said. “(But) leadership is making a good case that this is the only alternative we have.”

He ultimately voted in favor of the bill, which passed a narrow Senate floor vote of 26 to 24 on Thursday morning and almost immediately met with resistance from House members who criticized both its reliance on tax increases and the Senate’s unwillingness to use revenue from expansions of gambling and liquor sales to help close a budget gap of more than $2 billion.

A full report appears in the Butler Eagle.