Rendell Relieved That Funding Bill Clears Hurdle
Governor Rendell is breathing easier now that a bill that will funnel millions of federal dollars to Pennsylvania has cleared its toughest hurdle in Congress.
KYW's Tony Romeo reports that the US Senate on Wednesday voted to end debate on the bill and Governor Rendell believes both the Senate and House will now give it final approval:
"Oh, tremendous relief…and it's something that I've worked hard for the last six months."
Rendell lobbied senators and congressmen hard, persuading them that failure to act would be bad for the economy. But while Pennsylvania had expected about $850 million dollars from the feds, the bill before Congress will provide only about 70-percent of that.
The governor says he'll meet with legislative leaders next week to discuss how to deal with the $250 million dollar shortfall. He was not prepared to discuss how many layoffs will result from that, but he does say that as a result of attrition, the layoffs from the budget enacted last month have been reduced to "a couple of hundred or even less."
