A 'get out of town' budget appears inevitable, lawmakers say
HARRISBURG — Lawmakers faced with Pennsylvania state government's biggest cash shortfall since the recession are bracing for what they call a “get-out-of-town budget.”
Put another way, there is little expectation in the Capitol of bringing long-term balance to the state's tattered finances before lawmakers depart for their traditional summer break from Harrisburg.
Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf and leaders of the Legislature's huge Republican majorities have been absorbed with major pension and gambling legislation until recent days, virtually ensuring that a budget package will be hashed out in rushed, closed-door negotiations.
With just two weeks before the July 1 start of the 2017-18 fiscal year, ideas on how to inject more money into the state's threadbare bank account have begun flying around the Capitol in earnest. One concept raised by Senate Republicans is borrowing a one-time lump sum against cash from Pennsylvania's share of the landmark 1998 multi-state settlement with tobacco companies.
Read more: http://triblive.com/state/pennsylvania/12419498-74/a-get-out-of-town-budget-appears-inevitable-lawmakers-say
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