Pennsylvania budget holdup might be resolved; talks continue

Pennsylvania legislative leaders appear to have resolved a dispute over setting up a new state office to analyze state revenue and spending after the dispute had threatened to blow up the state budget deal. They agreed to work on setting up the independent fiscal office — to be staffed by analysts who, in theory, work independently of the governor and Legislature — this fall. But both sides cautioned that they're still hammering out the fine points. The deal would clear the way for votes on the remaining set of budget-related bills, and could result in Gov. Ed Rendell signing them as early as Tuesday.
The agreement calls for discussions of a law creating the office on Jan. 1. "This is not something that's been settled yet, as far as I know," said Senate Finance Chairman Pat Browne, R-Lehigh, who has championed creation of the Legislative Fiscal Office.

As leverage, Browne had been holding up a bill to authorize borrowing of $600 million for civic improvement projects such as ballparks and libraries. But his committee approved that bill early Friday afternoon.

Senate Appropriations Chairman Jake Corman, R-Centre, called it a "loose agreement."

House Democratic Appropriations spokeswoman Johnna Pro confirmed the deal, but cautioned that it remained tenuous and "can blow up at any minute."

Legislators passed the main $28 billion budget bill Wednesday, increasing basic education spending by $250 million, raising no new taxes but imposing cuts across many areas of state government.

Browne says an independent fiscal office, within the bipartisan Legislative Budget and Finance Committee, would make budgeting more effective and complement the existing system and work done by the appropriations committees. Browne said the annual costs would be less than $1.5 million, but House Democrats opposed creating an additional bureaucracy.

Associated Press