Still No Budget, But Personal Income Tax Increases May Be Dead

Written by Roberta Biros

It was a long day for lawmakers in the Harrisburg yesterday. The 2009-2010 budget battle continues, but there seems to be good news for taxpayers.

Below is a legislator announcement from Representative Brad Roae (R-6th) outlining the basics:

Roae Issues Statement on State Budget Negotiations

Rep. Brad Roae (R-Crawford) issued the following statement in reaction to the announcement by House Democratic leadership that floor sessions are cancelled until Monday:

“The Democrats just canceled session for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday,” Roae said. “Monday is now the next possible day that we can vote on the budget.

“Today the Democratic leadership realized that almost all of the House Republicans and about 20 “Blue Dog” Democrats will not vote to increase the Personal Income Tax, as a result, the chances for passing a Personal Income Tax increase have been dealt a severe blow.

“Pennsylvania currently has the 11th highest tax burden in the nation. The people of Crawford County cannot afford an increase in the Personal Income Tax.

“The Republicans are prepared to vote on a responsible budget plan that has no Personal Income Tax increase, will protect the people and will support the core functions of government.

“Only the committee chair of the majority party can bring a bill up for a vote at a committee meeting.

"There are 104 Democrats and 99 Republicans in the state House, so the Democratic chair of the House Appropriations Committee, Rep. Dwight Evans (D-Philadelphia), is the only person who can release the budget for a vote.

“I am here representing the people of my district. I wish the Democrats would let us conduct session so we can get on with the people’s business.”

Rep. Brad Roae
6th District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
(814) 827-6054
(717) 787-2353
(717) 787-3407
Member Site: RepRoae.com
Caucus Site: PAHouseGOP.com

Representative Roae's announcement hits on some important key points. First, it is disappointing to see that work on the budget has again been put on hold in exchange for a long weekend. Like many taxpayers, I'd prefer to see the legislature remain in session to hammer this thing out, but that just isn't going to happen.

Second, it is great to see that my fellow "Blue Dog Democrats" (fiscal conservative Democrats) are willing to take a stand for good government and responsible spending and stand on the side of "no tax increases". Without the "numbers", House Democrats will be hard pressed to push through Governor Rendell's budget and Senate Bill 850 may actually be moved forward in some form.

A front-page story in today's Herald explains that the process of moving the Senate version of the budget forward may simply be a ploy to kill the budget in the Governor's office, but I suppose only time will tell [read the story from The Herald HERE (there was no specific link available at the time of publication of this blog post)].

The fact that there is finally SOME movement of the budget is promising, but this battle is far from over. There was some celebrating by Republican legislator's yesterday and today. Here are a few tidbits from the PA House GOP website:

Rep. Smith says "Personal Income Tax Plan Dead In Its Tracks "

As per the PA House GOP website, Republican Leader Sam Smith announces that the governor's tax hike proposal is dead [view the video HERE]

Rep. Brooks says "We Have Made Huge Strides On Budget Goals "

As per the PA House GOP website, Rep. Michele Brooks expresses excitement that the governor's tax increase proposal has been taken off the table of budget discussions. [view the video HERE]

A review of the House Democrat's news website was a little less informative. As of this morning, there were not recents posts regarding budget negotiations. A deeper search takes you to the site of the House Appropriations Committee (who has control of the budget), but their site has no new information to report.

10:30am: House Republican's Announce a House Budget Bill Amendment

This morning, the House Republican's held a press conference to introduce their amendment to the Budget Bill (SB850). House Republican's have taken the original Senate Bill 850 and messaged it through a line-by-line review. Details are a little vague at this point, but more information will become available on Monday when lawmakers get back to business in Harrisburg. If approved, the House version of the budget could travel back to the Senate for another round of negotiations.

So, where does that leave us (the taxpayers)? At this point, Legislators headed home for the weekend and intend on returning to Harrisburg for Monday sessions. According to the House GOP website, "The House of Representatives will convene in voting session at 2 p.m. on Monday, July 13, unless sooner recalled by the Speaker." At that time it is expected that Senate Bill 850 will FINALLY be released from the House Appropriations Committee and House Members will have an opportunity to amend the bill and vote on it. Based on the numbers, it is expected that the bill will pass the House with some changes and will be moved forward. There is no way to tell how long this process will take, but at least it looks like some movement is being made . . . and that is good news.

Be sure to log into the House Live feed on Monday (July 13) at 2pm when the House is scheduled to convene.

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BLOG POST UPDATE:

Here is a link a video of the PA House GOP press conference that was held this morning at 10:30am.

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