BUSY MONDAY

Things will be hopping today on this, the 97th day, without an approved state budget. So we'll dispense with the usual formalities and just dive right into the usual mix of gossip, half-truths and outright fabrications.

The State House Kicks Off ...
... Round Two of its amendment derby on legislation to legalize table games at Pennsylvania's Roulette wheel slot-machine casinos.
In a grueling eight hours of debate yesterday, lawmakers dealt with a patchwork of proposals that would have, among other things, increased casino licensing fees, banned ATM machines in casinos and required casinos to shut their doors on Christmas Day as they struggled to find a way to pay for a $27.9 billion budget plan.
Debate in the House dragged on through the afternoon and late into the evening over a proposal allowing casino operators to install up to 200 table games that would be taxed at a rate of 34 percent.
License fees would be $20 million for free-standing casinos and casinos at horse racing tracks. So-called ''resort'' casinos would pay a $7.5 million license fee. Under that structure, the games would net the state $62 million this year and $247 million in subsequent years. The upfront licensing fees would net $255 million, backers said last week.
The debate veered between the profound (whether Pennsylvania should be expanding gambling, and at what cost) to the thoroughly surreal (the argument over whether to shutter casinos on Christmas and whether lawmakers should even be working at all on The Lord's Day.).
As the night wore on, legislators got downright ornery (yes, we're looking at you, Majority Leader Todd Eachus and Rep. Mario Scavello) and also more than a little bit sarcastic (everyone except Rep. Will Gabig can sit down.). These tantrums prompted Speaker Keith McCall more than once to put on his Mother Superior outfit and bring the children to heel.
But we were most amused by lawmakers' efforts to jettison amendments in an effort to speed debate so everyone could go the Steelers' 38-28 win over the surprisingly resilient San Diego Chargers.
Debate resumes this afternoon at 1:30 p.m. We'll be curious to see how long lawmakers can hold out.

The rest of today's news starts, as always, after the jump.

Grab Your Popcorn And Scorecards.
The world-famous joint House and Senate Conference Committee puts up its tents and lays down all three Plate spinner rings as it resumes deliberations at High Noon today on a spending plan that no one knows how to pay for yet.
Legislators of both parties met separately with Gov. Ed yesterday to try to broker a deal to end a four-month-long standoff.
During quick comments to reporters last night, Rendell said he was optimistic that both sides were making progress and that "issues are narrowing" on the way to a permanent accord.
Our friends at Capitolwire report that legislative leaders are mulling a spending package of $27.845 million, or $100 million less, than the dread Frankenbudget, which continues to lurch across the countryside, scaring the villagers and knocking over windmills.
Sources told Capitolwire that a natural gas severance tax and a tax on cigars and smokeless tobacco had been dropped from the spending plan.
This more or less coheres with a conversation we had with Senate Finance Committee Chairman Pat Browne, R-Lehigh, on Saturday, who told us that a revised budget would likely drop taxes proposals opposed by both the House and Senate. Browne also said the spending number would be adjusted downward to reflect the loss in revenue.

Allegheny County Executive Dan "Drinks Tax" Onorato ...
... finally ends the carefully guarded secret that is his Democratic gubernatorial candidacy by launching a whirlwind, three-day announcement tour of Pennsylvania.
Things counter-intuitively kick off this morning in Philadelphia, with stops in Harrisburg and Pittsburgh rounding out the day.
In a related story, Auditor General Jack Wagner is still telling people that he's thinking about running ... or not.

In The Pages Of The Daily News ...
... our own personal Mr. Miyagi, John Baer, says it's time for the state to release emergency funding to keep cash-strapped social service agencies afloat until they get it together on the budget.
As we reported on Saturday, we're now one-quarter of the way into the 2009-2010 fiscal year and the state-supported private agencies that do everything from provide elder care to conduct early childhood education programs are running out of reserves and lines of credit are drying up.
Baer confirms our reporting, noting: "These agencies meet basic needs across the state and serve in some cases as a last stand against disaster. Yet, because of the ongoing failure of state leaders they are cutting back, closing down or laying off workers. Many agencies have run out of money and face interest payments on loans that they were forced to take due to the impasse."
We don't have a punchline here. Just a reminder that lawmakers' failure to act has real world consequences.

Lest Anyone Forget ...
... there's still statewide judicial elections going on.
And our friends at the Associated Press have done the hard work for us by slapping together a profile of Republican Joan Orie Melvin and Democrat Jack Panella of Northampton County
The two candidates, we are told, offer contrasts beyond the usual partisan and gender differences.
We know how much we hate it when someone spoils the ending for us, so we'll let you read the story for yourselves. And, once you do, we'd appreciate it if you'd report back and tell us what it was about. Because, really, we couldn't get much past the first couple of paragraphs before dozing off.

What Goes On.
At 9 a.m., an outfit called the Interior Design Legislative Coalition will hold a no-doubt painfully stylish event in the East Wing Rotunda.
And at 12:30 p.m., there's a Disability Employment Awareness Month event in the Main Rotunda.

A Further Programming Note.
Tonight, at 6 p.m., the Pennsylvania Legislative Correspondents Association (full disclosure, we're serving our second term as president) holds the 89th Annual Gridiron Dinner at the Harrisburg Hilton.
This off-the-record event is the oldest of its kind in the country. And this year, we're trying something new by having Washington journalist Ana Marie Cox act as emcee for the usual mix of satiric skits and videos.
We rarely use this space to make personal entreaties, but this year we need your help more than ever to make this event a success.
The Gridiron raises money for the PLCA's summer internship program.
And while we appreciate -- and laugh at -- the jokes that a world without nosy reporters might not be a bad thing, we will tell you that the program provides an invaluable opportunity for real-world experience for young people pursuing about a career in political journalism.
Tickets are $80 each or $800 for a table of 10 and they are still available. E-mail us privately at the link in the right-hand column for further information.

In The Blogosphere.
GrassrootsPA rounds up the table games debate; 2 Political Junkies have a question; Tony Phyrillas on the new definition of pathetic; Bernie O'Hare catches up with Charlie Dent; Gort went to see Joe Sestak in the W-B yesterday; PaWatercooler on something called "Life Chain"; Pam Varkony wonders What Price Afghanistan?; Above Average Jane has a business round-up; Policy Blog wants you to protect school choice in Pennsylvania; It's Our Money has your week-in-review; Wonkette has your daily briefing; Andrew Sullivan on the GOP's absence of a contract; Daily Kos has your abbreviated pundit round-up; Red State bids farewell to "Free Tibet" bumper stickers; Here's this morning's Playbook and a few words about screenwriter David S. Goyer.