But Reed said Wolf does not have the 102 Democratic or Republican votes required to get the measures approved in the House. “I personally will ask each of our members to meet with the governor or talk with governor upon his request to hear his rationale”.
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To pass his bills, Wolf will have to convince 18 GOP representatives and 6 GOP senators of his plans, provided every Democrat aligns with the Governor.
“I said, ‘I’m a no on that bill, ‘” Petri said. “I will not attempt to sway them in one direction or another, and the chips will fall where the chips fall”.
Constituents responded to questions about Pennsylvania’s business climate, including employment and sales figures; state issues, including the budget impasse, education, liquor privatization and tax incentives; and the 2016 presidential race, for which answers closely replicated current national polls. 1 and $1 billion by December 1, if the stalemate continues that long.
Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman (R., Jefferson) put it this way: “If the votes are there – and we don’t think they are – then we’ll be done”.
“The fact of the matter is that Tom Wolf is campaigning for the largest tax increases in the country, and won’t accept anything less”.
The higher taxes are also necessary to bring the state’s recurring revenues into balance with a steadily-growing tab for pension and medical assistance costs, the governor’s team asserts.
He and his allies have reportedly been floating a new tentative budget plan to Republicans.
“At least we’re having a conversation”, said Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa, D-Allegheny. Pennsylvania houses nearly 50,000 state prison inmates costing the commonwealth about $2 billion each year. “So, let’s find out”.
Reed says he does not believe there are enough votes in the House to pass the tax proposals.
Dermody, for his part, did not guarantee that the proposal he is seeking votes for won’t change over the next week.
“I’m willing to talk to the administration”, said DiGirolamo, who has a history of bucking House GOP leadership.
Wolf has rejected the Republicans’ reasonable and responsible spending plans so that he can hold schools and social services hostage in budget negotiations, Miskin said.
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Another Republican lawmaker who has been approached, Rep. Nicholas Miccarelli of Delaware County, said he supports the imposition of a severance tax, but not necessarily an increase in the personal income tax.
