It’s getting down to the wire for state lawmakers, as the deadline to pass the budget is quickly approaching. Both the Senate and House worked on Sunday to get closer to meeting the June 30th deadline.
Lawmakers FOX43 spoke to said they’re taking it one hour at a time, in hopes of finalizing a budget plan that both sides can agree upon.
The House passed its 29.1 billion dollar spending plan on Wednesday, which included revenue from the sale of state liquor stores.
Their budget also included steady funding for K-12 education, as well as a focus on higher education. The ball is now in the Senate’s court, as senators decide what changes they want to make.
One of the hot topics in the debate back and forth has been if there should be a severance tax, and if not, where will the money come from to fill the budget deficit?
“Well I think the Senate Democrats are united in a moderate to low severance tax on Marcellus Shale and also not selling the liquor system, but modernizing it so that it can actually bring in more revenue,” Sen. Rob Teplitz, (D) 199th District said.
Rep. Kevin Schreiber, (D) 95th District says, “The version we get back likely will not include the privatization of liquor stores, but we have a very large budget deficit and the Senate and House are trying to wrestle with that deficit and as it exists right now, this budget is very much a house of cards.”
Meanwhile, Governor Tom Corbett is waiting for the spending plan to be brought to his desk.
“There are some that are looking at the political side of this game, rather than the students side, and I would urge them to work very hard on behalf of the students,” the Governor said.
Both sides will be back at it again on Monday, striving to meet the midnight deadline.