Another Tentative Deal Set For State Budget
HARRISBURG, Pa. (KDKA) – Once again, there is some movement to pass a state budget.
Leaders in the Republican-controlled state Senate and House Democrats have reached an agreement on a tax plan to fund a new budget, but the Republican-controlled House could be a different story.
After reaching an agreement on a budget, sources tell KDKA political editor Jon Delano that Senate Republicans and Democrats have agreed on a tax plan to pay for it. It comes as House Speaker Mike Turzai set his own deadline for Governor Wolf.
It's still another tentative deal to pay for the $30.8 billion budget that Senate Republicans, Democrats and Governor Wolf reached earlier this month.
Sources say it includes: a hike in the state's personal income tax from 3.07 percent to 3.3 percent; a 50-cent hike in the cigarette tax this year and another 25-cents next year; extending that tax to e-cigarettes and roll-your-owns; expanding the state sales tax to digital downloads, like e-books and movie tickets, and subjecting lottery winnings to the state income tax.
The increase in the state income tax would add $115 of tax on every $50,000 of income and is estimated to bring in an additional $800 million of revenue.
The governor's office had no comment.
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But it goes nowhere without the support of at least 25 to 35 Republicans in the state House. On Wednesday, House Republican Speaker Mike Turzai gave the governor 24 hours to produce those votes. Wolf's office rejected that.
"Make no mistake, Speaker Turzai is the hold-up," Jeff Sheridan, press secretary to Governor Wolf, said via phone. "But the deadline he delivered yesterday is a sham. It meant nothing to us … It was a deadline laid out by an erratic House Speaker, who every day surprises us with the different things he tries to do to blow up this budget."
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But Turzai says it's the governor who lacks the votes.
"We've given him more than enough opportunities and time to gather those votes, and he simply can't deliver," Jay Ostrich, spokesperson for the office of Speaker Mike Turzai, said via phone. "It's truly a shame the administration has resorted to childish name-calling and ad hominem attacks."
How much this personal stuff gets in the way of enacting a budget compromise remains to be seen, but sources say everyone wants a budget enacted before Christmas.