Without a revenue plan, the $31.5 billion blueprint the Legislature sent Mr. Wolf will not be in balance, as it needs new revenue to prop it up. He has said that he would not sign it without sustainable revenue to pay for it.
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He said as far as he remembers, an unbalanced budget has never before been in danger of becoming law.
The House has backed a revenue package that would raise about $1 billion from expanding gambling, hiking tobacco taxes, breaking the state’s monopoly on wine sales and instituting a tax amnesty program.
“We’re coming back Sunday, we’re sorting out a couple details and hopefully we’ll have it signed, sealed and delivered by Tuesday”, said Rep. Kerry Benninghoff, R-Centre.
Wolf said he will let the 2016-17 budget pass because it is a good, bipartisan product.
Really?! The same Republican-controlled legislature that constantly accuses the governor of wasteful spending wants even more money for its fat-filled sausage factory?
In March, the 2015-16 fiscal year budget became law without Wolf’s signature after a protracted nine-month stalemate.
Revenue: Negotiations revolve around increasing excise taxes on cigarettes by up to $1 per pack, from the current $1.60 per pack.
“This budget is another shining example of the effectiveness of that sort of bi-partisan cooperation-but we are not done yet”, Wolf said.
His top aides said he will not spend more than what the state is bringing in, leaving open the possibility that Mr. Wolf would have to make cuts. Republicans say it would generate $270 million in the first year, mostly through initial license fees, while Democrats say they expect $200 million from it. Its prospects in the Senate are unclear, and owners of the state’s 12 casinos are at odds over it. Under the bill, casinos could offer slot machine-style games and table games on websites.
They also said the constitution leaves ample legal room for Mr. Wolf to allow a spending plan to become law without his signature. However, the House and Senate do not see eye to eye on the sprawling gambling legislation, and no such bill reached Wolf’s desk, much less passed the Senate.
But House Majority Leader Dave Reed says there’s still disagreement over where to get the money for the revenue plan, and Wolf could veto the main appropriations bill before it becomes law without his signature midnight Monday.
Though the legislature met the July 1 deadline for sending Wolf a budget, it did not send him a corresponding plan for how to pay for it.
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The 2016/2017 proposed spending plan calls for more education funding, allowing gambling at airports and online and higher tobacco taxes.
