Budget negotiations to resume Saturday after 'disappointing' Friday talks

By Alex Roarty, PolitickerPA.com Reporter

HARRISBURG -- With a June 30 deadline looming to resolve Pennsylvania's budget showdown, Republicans emerged from Friday night's negotiations at the Capitol saying they needed between $200 million to $250 million in cuts to agree to a deal.

Democrats emerged from the same meeting saying they've already cut $600 million and accused Republicans of shifting their demands.

The two sides agreed only that the night's talks were disappointing.

What does that mean? Budget talks that once, by Pennsylvania standards at least, seemed set for a timely resolution might be in jeopardy of ruining everybody's July Fourth plans -- especially for the nearly 25,000 "non-essential" state workers who could be temporarily laid off if a handshake agreement isn't in place by Monday.

Talks haven't broken down by any means, but they were stunted for one night at least.

"We wasted away an evening that could easily have been a success," Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati told reporters gathered outside his Senate office.

Said House Majority Leader Bill DeWeese (D-Fayette County): "We did have a disappointing evening."

Talks are scheduled to resume sometime Saturday morning after the Senate's session scheduled to start at 10 a.m. and end at noon. When they do, lawmakers will not return to an empty cupboard. Both sides have said they've agreed to increase education funding by about $291 million while not touching the state's Rainy Day fund, its reservoir of money used during times of economic duress.

Republicans argue Democrats aren't "serious" about making the budget cuts necessary when tax revenues are dwindling in a slow economy. They're asking for $200 million to $250 million more in reduced spending.

Democrats counter they've proposed $600 million in cuts already after trimming another $79 million before Friday's meeting. House Appropriations Chairman Dwight Evans (D-Philadelphia) told reporters that every state department took at least a 1.4 percent reduction, and said Republicans simply didn't agree with the cuts they've made.

The budget they're proposing, Democrats say, would spend less money than the $27.9 billion Senate Republicans proposed spending when they passed they passed their budget bill.

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