By: Capitolwire
Published: July 26, 2017
The state Senate returns for some potential budget work today and Thursday. The Senate is scheduled to gavel in today at 3 p.m., and at 11 a.m. on Thursday. One would expect senators will spend some time later today discussing, behind closed doors, their options following Saturday’s failed effort by the state House of Representatives to find enough votes in that chamber for some of the elements of a revenue plan that have been the subject of several recent discussions by legislative leaders and Gov. Tom Wolf. Drew Crompton, chief of staff for Senate President Pro Tem Joe Scarnati, R-Jefferson, following the House’s session on Saturday, suggested Senate Republicans are willing to work with anyone willing to work with them (also indicating his belief the House GOP hasn’t been all that willing), and, along with $1.4 billion in borrowing plus maybe some fund transfers, the willingness to potentially consider recurring revenues generated by tax changes (everyone has heard many of the possibilities, such as taxing alcoholic drinks a different way, reinstating a gross receipts tax (GRT) on natural gas, applying the sales tax to basic cable television services, and even a Democratic favorite, a new severance tax on natural gas drilling). So, are we headed for a late-ish night tonight in the state Senate, as the chamber’s Republicans and Democrats work together, with the input of Democrats (and some Republicans) in the House, to develop a revenue package that’s amended into the requisite budget-related code bills, and then, on Thursday, sent to the House, or does only some of that happen (and on different days) or do things get bogged down yet again? Stay tuned.
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