Pennsylvania lawmakers continued to debate the $27.15 billion budget as the Thursday midnight deadline for passage loomed.
The Senate on Tuesday was scheduled to hold a floor vote on the main budget bill, one day after the Appropriations Committee approved it in a party-line vote. Republicans own a majority of both houses of the General Assembly. First-year Gov. Tom Corbett is also a Republican.
Under the proposed budget, spending would drop 4.1%, from $28.3 billion.
Republicans want to complete the budget on time for the first time in nine years. GOP lawmakers and Corbett’s predecessor, Democrat Ed Rendell, frequently bickered over the budget.
The legislature is expected to remain in session during the week to finish the budget before taking their annual two-month break.
This week, aid to universities and debate over a Marcellus Shale tax on the natural gas industry were points of contention. On Monday, Democrats in the House and Senate blocked appropriations for higher education — which are separate from the budget — in protest over the Republicans’ more extensive cuts.
Republican legislators said university officials want the budget approved, despite cuts of nearly 20%, saying a funding delay could force some boards of trustees to seek tuition raises. Corbett had originally sought a 50% reduction.
House Republicans this week may hold a floor vote on a Marcellus Shale gas-fee measure. Corbett would rather wait until his task force makes a recommendation, expected in July.
The gas deposits of the Marcellus Shale, which lie beneath parts of Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, and New York, have attracting drilling companies and benefited certain industries, such as trucking companies, quarries, and short-line railroads.
Pennsylvania governments now receive no direct tax benefit from natural gas drilling. Some observers say communities in shale-rich areas, mostly rural, could struggle to maintain infrastructure or education requirements as employment and population rises in drilling areas. There are also concerns about possible groundwater pollution from extracting natural gas with a controversial process known as hydraulic fracturing.
The state has a Aa1 rating from Moody’s Investors Service, a AA from Standard & Poor’s, and a AA-plus from Fitch Ratings.
