Monday, December 21, 2015
Associated Press
HARRISBURG, Pa.
Lawmakers are considering their options amid the wreckage of a deal between Gov. Tom Wolf and top lawmakers to end Pennsylvania’s nearly six-month budget stalemate.
Legislative leaders returned to the Capitol’s dark corridors Sunday, a day after the GOP-controlled House of Representatives killed public pension legislation that was Senate Republicans’ top priority.
House Republican leaders are planning a vote on a short-term emergency spending bill Tuesday, although Wolf and Senate Republican majority leaders oppose it.
The House’s huge Republican majority is opposing practically every element of a multifaceted budget deal their leaders helped negotiate last month. That includes a tax and spending package the Democratic governor wanted and legislation to restructure public pension benefits.
Wolf’s office says it has corralled enough House support to pass the tax legislation, but House Republican leaders are refusing to run it.