HARRISBURG Senate committee takes away $307 million from spending plan

Senators cut education funding, which the governor won't like.
HARRISBURG (AP) -- The state Senate Appropriations Committee stripped $307 million from a $1.1 billion revenue and spending plan forged by Gov. Ed Rendell and House leaders, although Senate aides say more money may be cut from that.
Senators have expressed anger over being left out of negotiations between Rendell and House leaders, and said that the bill that passed the House last week was too expensive.
"The amended package brings the increase down to a much more reasonable amount and establishes the basis on which we can negotiate a final agreement," said Sen. Robert Thompson, the Republican chairman of the Appropriations Committee.
Education funding
Many of the items stripped from the bill passed by the House are referred to as "discretionary spending," although senators also removed $50 million from the bill's $250 million in education funding, an amount on which the Democratic governor has said he would not negotiate.
Rendell has pushed for the increased education funding all year, even holding up more than $4 billion in public school subsidies to force lawmakers to consider his initiatives to expand early childhood education, reduce class sizes through third grade, and provide more tutoring. Rendell originally asked for $560 million for his education initiatives.
Rendell's spokeswoman Kate Philips said Tuesday that "there are other areas of the budget where there's still room for compromise." But Rendell, she said, "made it very clear that he's not budging on education."
Budget not completed
Pennsylvania remains the only state without a completed budget for the fiscal year.
The $240 million was cut from line items that critics term was a way for the governor to reward lawmakers who supported his initiatives by giving grants to local programs in their districts. The Senate also stripped $17 million earmarked for the House of Representatives that the House put into its spending bill.
The House plan would get much of its revenue from a permanent 11 percent increase in the personal income tax. Senate leaders, who have opposed a tax hike, have been talking about ways to whittle down the increase.