State budget deficit tops $1 billion
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HARRISBURG -- It looks like Harrisburg is in for another long, drawn-out budget process as the state's 2009-10 budget deficit has swollen to more than $1 billion.
The projected deficit for the fiscal year ending June 30 stood at $720 million a month ago. However, because the state collected $290 million less than anticipated in April, the total deficit is expected to be more than $1 billion, Sen. Jake Corman, R-Center, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said this morning.
It isn't known yet exactly how or when the Legislature will erase the deficit, which Mr. Corman said could swell to as much as $1.5 billion by June 30, due to the ongoing recession and tax revenues that are below estimates.
The state budget for 2009-10 is $27.8 billion, and Gov. Ed Rendell had proposed spending $29.1 billion in fiscal 2010-11, which starts July 1. But Mr. Corman said spending that much would require serious tax increases, probably in "across the board taxes" like the personal income tax or the sales tax, which is a drastic step that all four legislative caucuses oppose, he said.
Therefore, he and other Senate GOP leaders are calling on Mr. Rendell to sharply reduce his budget proposal for the upcoming fiscal year. Exactly what areas might be trimmed or eliminated, and what services may be cut, are unknown.
Mr. Corman said he still hopes a 2010-11 budget could be adopted by the deadline of July 1, but it's looking more like a repeat of last summer, when the Legislature was 101 days late enacting a budget.
After Mr. Corman made his remarks, the governor today proposed new taxes and revenue generators, including some Mr. Corman said he opposed.
First Published May 3, 2010 11:36 am
