PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE: The temperature in the Legislature for a severance tax on natural gas cooled considerably on Thursday, as Senate Republicans look at putting together a state budget without new tax revenue despite a $1.4 billion deficit.
“They (Republicans) told us they’re heading down a path of passing a budget without new revenue,” said Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa, D-Forest Hills…
The budget would be “put together with Band-Aids and bubble gum,”[Senate Appropriations Chairman Jake Corman, R-Centre County] said. It would be achieved by “inflating” the estimate used to calculate the growth rate of existing revenue streams, raiding various funds and “taking money out of every cupboard they can find,” he said… (more)
EDITOR: Of course. It’s fund raising time… (more)
