Conference committee begins work tomorrow on Pa. budget
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HARRISBURG -- A six-member, House-Senate conference committee will hold its first meeting tomorrow but it likely will be days, or even several weeks, before a budget for fiscal 2009-10, which began July 1, will be completely worked out.
The three Democrats on the panel are House Majority Leader Todd Eachus of Luzerne, Rep. Dwight Evans of Philadelphia, who chairs the House Appropriations Committee, and Sen. Jay Costa of Forest Hills, ranking Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee. Republicans are Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi of Delaware County, Sen. Jake Corman of Centre, chairman of Senate Appropriations, and House GOP leader Sam Smith of Punxsutawney.
The meeting, to start at noon, will be open to the news media, which is different than the procedure used in many past years, when top legislative leaders huddled in private on budget talks.
The panel will discuss three different 2009-10 budget plans: a $27.1 billion proposal by Senate Republicans that makes deep spending cuts but doesn't call for increasing any "broad-based'' taxes; a $28 billion or so budget by Gov. Ed Rendell, who is seeking a three-year, 16 percent increase in the personal income tax; and a $29.1 billion plan by House Democrats.
First Published July 28, 2009 3:15 pm
