UPDATE

After 101 days, Pennsylvania’s general fund budget is one stop away from Gov. Ed Rendell’s desk.

The Senate voted 42-7this afternoon to concur in the $27.8 billion spending plan already approved by the state House. Rendell could sign the bill as early as tonight, as long as other tumblers fall into place. That includes the House's giving its formal signature to the spending plan.

A tax bill that provides funding for the budget bill now awaits Rendell’s signature. It includes a quarter-a-pack increase in the state cigarette tax, and a hike to the capital stock and franchise tax paid by some businesses.

House and Senate negotiators were still trying to reach agreement on what’s known as the “fiscal code” bill, which provides destination accounts into which tax revenues are deposited, and later withdrawn from, to pay for elements of the general fund budget. The House could withhold its signature on the general fund until there's agreement.

The House and Senate disagree on two provisions in the fiscal code: the leasing of state forest land for natural gas drilling and the creation of a so-called “independent fiscal office,” that would act as a counterweight to the governor’s Budget Office

The House has said it opposes the office’s $4 million start-up cost in the 2010-2011 budget. But the true difference appears to lie in language allowing the office, and not the governor, to certify the revenue estimate used to pay for the budget. If approved, observers have said it would mark a major shift in power from the executive to the legislative branch. That language was crafted by Sen. Pat Browne, R-Lehigh.

Approval of the fiscal code is critical, because Rendell cannot sign the budget into law without it.

The Senate voted 35-14 to approve the fiscal code this afternoon. It now awaits action by the House.

The Senate also voted 29-20 this afternoon to approve legislation legalizing poker, blackjack, roulette and other table games at Pennsylvania’s slot machine casinos.

But the bill is still a long way from becoming law.

As of midday, negotiators in the House and Senate were still trying to reach agreement on differences over how much the games should be taxed and how much casinos should pay in up-front license fees.

The bill the Senate approved this afternoon allows casino operators to operate up to 250 table games at horse-tracks and free-standing casinos, and up to 25 table games at so-called “resort casinos.”

The tables at the freestanding casinos and the tracks would be taxed at a rate of 14 percent, with 12 percent going to the state and 2 percent to local communities. In general, that local share would be 1 percent each for the host community and county, but the arrangement could differ from region to region. Those casino operators would also be required to pay an up-front licensing fee of $15 million.

Resort casino operators would be required to pay a $7.5 million licensing fee, and the table games would be taxed at a rate of 12 percent – with 10 percent to the state and 2 percent split locally.

In all cases, the state’s share of the money would go into the general fund – unlike slot machines, whose proceeds have been legally earmarked to underwrite property tax relief for homeowners.

While acknowledging the need to raise badly needed revenue in a year in which the state faces a $3.25 billion deficit, the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Robert M. Tomlinson, R-Bucks, said the games would also allow Pennsylvania’s casino industry to compete with surrounding states “rather than having people spending their entertainment dollars elsewhere.”

A proposal before the majority-Democrat House calls for a 34 percent tax and licensing fee of $20 million for free-standing and horse-track casinos.

The Senate also voted 49-0 to adopt a bill making changes to Pennsylvania’s five-year-old gaming law. Those reforms include language allowing the Pennsylvania State Police, and not the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board’s internal investigations wing, to conduct background checks of the board’s executive director, chairperson and board members.