6/29/16
by News Department on 06/29/16Wolf shoots down Appropriations Bill...
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 and hopes the Senate will fix the flaws.
House officials said the Republican-controlled House passed the main appropriations bill, 132-68, with support from House Democratic leaders, putting Wolf in a position of criticizing a plan his close allies are backing. It calls for a 5 percent increase in spending and holding the line on state taxes on income and sales.
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, a deadlock that was not fully resolved until April.
