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August 10, 2009

Budget Update from Senator Mary Jo White 

As many of you know, the General Assembly and Governor Rendell have yet to reach agreement on a final state budget for the fiscal year which began July 1st.

Governor Rendell has stated that state employees and many vendors who do business with the Commonwealth cannot be paid until a budget is enacted.  I strongly disagreed with Governor Rendell's decision, and believe federal law requires all state employees to be paid in full and on time, even during a budget impasse.  The U.S. Department of Labor has acknowledged that it is investigating claims that failure to pay employees in a timely fashion is a violation of federal law.

In the interim, Governor Rendell finally decided that he would support a partial budget bill that would ensure most state employees and vendors would be paid.  On August 4th, the House of Representatives passed Senate Bill 850 and sent it to the Governor.  On August 5th, Governor Rendell signed Senate Bill 850, but used his line-item veto authority to generally disapprove or reduce specific appropriations that the Governor stated were not necessary to pay state employees or vendors.  Several other time-sensitive line-item appropriations were left intact, while other time-sensitive appropriations, such as higher education funding, were vetoed.  Specific information on Governor Rendell's action regarding Senate Bill 850 can be found on the Office of the Budget website.  You can learn more about how quickly state employees will be paid by visiting the PA Treasury's website.

The Senate is expected to consider 8 separate bills by Wednesday, August 12th that will authorize funding for 8 independent state agencies and commissions so that their employees and vendors can also be paid.

There are two competing versions of budget bills before the General Assembly: 1) a $27.1 billion spending plan which I support and which has passed the Senate twice, and 2) a $29.1 billion spending plan supported by Governor Rendell and passed by the House Democratic leadership.  The House-approved plan is dependent on a $1.5 billion increase in the personal income tax – an increase which I strongly oppose.  The current budget bill under discussion is House Bill 1416.

On July 27th and 28th, the Senate and House of Representatives each appointed three members to a Conference Committee to resolve differences between the competing budget proposals.  The Conference Committee has begun its negotiations.  These meetings are open to the public and can be viewed online at www.pasen.gov.

Please visit my website or the Senate Republican Caucus website at www.pasenategop.com for future updates.