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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; Local state legislators were asked Friday for an update on the status of the budget impasse in Harrisburg.</p><p>State Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski was the first to respond and set the tone.</p><p>&#8220;We have none,&#8221; said Pashinski, D-Wilkes-Barre.</p><p>Pashinski and four of his fellow Northeastern Pennsylvania colleagues &#8212; state Sen. John Yudichak, D-Plymouth Township; and state Reps. Michael Carroll, D-Avoca; Aaron Kaufer, R-Kingston; and Tarah Toohil, R-Butler Township &#8212; attended the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber&#8217;s Legislative Breakfast on Friday at Genetti&#8217;s Hotel &amp; Conference Center in Wilkes-Barre. State Sen. Lisa Baker, R-Lehman Township; and state Reps. Karen Boback, R-Harveys Lake, and Gerald Mullery, D-Newport Township, did not attend.</p><p>The budget impasse is now four months into the current fiscal year. The legislators at Friday&#8217;s breakfast said the Republican-controlled Legislature has approved a $32 billion spending plan, but is $2 billion short of funds to pay for it.</p><p>Gov. Tom Wolf announced a plan to borrow $1.2 billion against future revenue from the state-run liquor system and generate a possible $200 million from leasing the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex &#8212; moves that the local officials are not supporting.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s pretty clear now that we haven&#8217;t been able to agree on a formula for new dollars to fund the state budget,&#8221; Pashinski said. &#8220;We somehow manage to continue to make cuts, but Pennsylvania is on a down-slide now.&#8221;</p><p>Pashinski said it&#8217;s always good to eliminate wasteful spending, but he said the reality is the state needs to create new businesses and make new investments. He said solutions must be found, and he warned about the increasing cost of health care and the ever-looming pension issue.</p><p>Carroll said he was one of the 173 state legislators who voted for the $32 billion spending plan.</p><p>&#8220;We voted to spend $32 billion while knowing we only bring in $30 billion in revenue,&#8221; Carroll said. &#8220;We know we have to find another $2 billion, yet there has been no serious discussion on how to do that. The sad reality is that we have not governed.&#8221;</p><p>Yudichak said the political partisanship in Harrisburg &#8220;has led us to dysfunction.&#8221; He said Harrisburg has lost sight of job creation.</p><p>&#8220;We can&#8217;t be concerned about the winners and losers on the political front,&#8221; he said.</p><p>Kaufer said 99.7 percent of the budget has been agreed to by the Legislature. He said the House will be voting this week on several revenue-producing proposals, such as increasing the hotel tax, the warehouse tax and a severance tax on the gas industry.</p><p>&#8220;We return to Harrisburg Monday and hopefully we will get this resolved,&#8221; said Kaufer. &#8220;We need to get it done.&#8221;</p><p>Toohil said Pennsylvania has a huge under-employment problem and a welfare problem.</p><p>&#8220;We have become a welfare culture,&#8221; Toohil said. &#8220;We have become a poverty culture. We need real, family-sustaining jobs. But we seem to have a spending addiction in Pennsylvania. We always want more. And now we have a $32 billion budget that we are unable to fund.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/web1_ttl101417legislativebreakfast-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Justin Brown of Community Options, Inc, looks over a program during the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber Legislative Breakfast Friday morning at Genetti's in Wilkes-Barre. 
Amanda Hrycyna|For Times Leader</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/web1_ttl101417legislativebreakfast-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Justin Brown of Community Options, Inc, looks over a program during the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber Legislative Breakfast Friday morning at Genetti's in Wilkes-Barre. 
Amanda Hrycyna|For Times Leader</caption0><photoCredit0>Amanda Hrycyna | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/web1_ttl101417legislativebreakfast-5.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">State Sen. John T. Yudichak and state Rep. Michael B. Carroll sit next to Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski as he talks about health care and current budget issues during the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber Legislative Breakfast on Friday morning at Genetti&#8217;s in Wilkes-Barre.  </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/web1_ttl101417legislativebreakfast-5.jpg</photo1><caption1>State Sen. John T. Yudichak and state Rep. Michael B. Carroll sit next to Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski as he talks about health care and current budget issues during the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber Legislative Breakfast on Friday morning at Genetti&#8217;s in Wilkes-Barre.  </caption1><photoCredit1>Amanda Hrycyna | For Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/web1_ttl101417legislativebreakfast-3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Republican Rep. Tarah Toohil sits next to Rep. Aaron Kaufer during the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber Legislative Breakfast at Genetti&#8217;s on Friday morning. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/web1_ttl101417legislativebreakfast-3.jpg</photo2><caption2>Republican Rep. Tarah Toohil sits next to Rep. Aaron Kaufer during the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber Legislative Breakfast at Genetti&#8217;s on Friday morning. </caption2><photoCredit2>Amanda Hrycyna | For Times Leader </photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Bill O&#8217;Boyle</p><p>boboyle@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Bill O&#8217;Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Legislators discuss budget impasse at Wilkes-Barre Chamber event