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Penn State suspends TE Wilkerson indefinitely

Wyoming Area to hold informational meeting on state budget Wednesday

<p>HARRISBURG &#8212; Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf on Tuesday blasted the latest budget plan to be advanced by Republican lawmakers in Pennsylvania&#8217;s eight-month partisan battle that has left billions of dollars in limbo and schools and universities warning of closures.</p><p>Wolf said the no-new-taxes plan unveiled by Republicans on Tuesday afternoon is out of balance and leaves a deficit of about $1.6 billion next year by the Republicans&#8217; own calculations.</p><p>He declined to say whether he would veto it.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve been consistent. I want a budget that is balanced, where the math actually works and it invests in the things that Pennsylvania needs to invest in,&#8221; Wolf said after an event in the Capitol. &#8220;We are looking at a train wreck in 2016-17, a huge deficit if we don&#8217;t do something about this.&#8221;</p><p>Wolf had sought a multibillion-dollar tax increase in this fiscal year to resolve a long-term deficit that has damaged Pennsylvania&#8217;s credit rating and to begin wiping out 2011&#8217;s budget-balancing funding cuts to public schools.</p><p>With the collapse of a bipartisan agreement in December, Wolf is seeking a $2.7 billion tax increase in the fiscal year that begins July 1.</p><p>Republicans have not agreed to any sort of tax increase for the next fiscal year, and they insist there is no more rank-and-file support for a tax increase this late in the fiscal year.</p><p>They have pressed Wolf to relent and resolve the current year&#8217;s budget without a tax increase as public schools borrow more to stay open and Penn State threatens to shut down agricultural extension offices.</p><p>&#8220;At some point you have to be realistic as to what&#8217;s possible and what&#8217;s not possible this year,&#8221; said House Majority Leader Dave Reed, R-Indiana.</p><p>The Senate Appropriations Committee passed a $6 billion spending bill in a party line vote Tuesday to complete a $30 billion budget package. Final floor votes were scheduled Wednesday in the House and Senate to send the bill to Wolf&#8217;s desk. It would increase spending from the state&#8217;s main bank account by about $870 million, or 3 percent.</p><p>However, about $600 million in aid to universities that requires a two-thirds vote of approval remains hung up in the House, where Democrats back Wolf&#8217;s opposition to GOP spending plans.</p><p>The Republican plan delivers half of the public school aid increase, $200 million, or 3.5 percent, that Wolf had initially sought last year, and the 5 percent increase for state subsidized universities that Wolf had supported.</p><p>&#8220;Obviously this has been a difficult year, and I think it&#8217;s time to get the schools funded, and not only funding them, we&#8217;re adding $200 million to the schools, which I think is a pretty significant investment into public education,&#8221; said Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman, R-Centre.</p><p>Senate Republican officials said it balances primarily by tapping $200 million in reserves, absorbing tens of millions of dollars from the state&#8217;s higher education grant agency and projecting more than $150 million in savings in Medicaid programs, partly thanks to higher federal reimbursements under the Medicaid expansion.</p><p>A bipartisan deal collapsed just before Christmas after House GOP leaders pulled support. That $30.8 billion spending plan would have required a $1 billion-plus tax increase. Republicans subsequently sent a $30.3 billion plan to Wolf, and he vetoed billions of dollars in subsidies for schools, prisons and hospitals.</p><p>On Tuesday, House Minority Leader Frank Dermody, D-Allegheny, insisted a tax increase is necessary to balance this year&#8217;s budget, and he criticized the GOP&#8217;s plan as built on $280 million in cuts.</p><p>&#8220;It doesn&#8217;t begin to solve the problem,&#8221; Dermody said. &#8220;This is not a budget that makes any sense whatsoever.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Wolf </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/web1_Wolf.jpg</photo0><caption0>Wolf </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Marc Levy</p><p>Associated Press</p></bylineMeta></div>

Wolf blasts new GOP bill in Pennsylvania’s budget fight