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Budget negotiations continued this week, including a brief late-night budget meeting last night. Apparently legislative leaders yielded yet more progress toward an agreement on total spending, Republicans and Democrats said afterward, setting up a potentially pivotal meeting with Governor Ed Rendell on Thursday. House Democrats had countered a $27.5 billion Senate Republican spending proposal with a $28.2 billion plan of their own. The night’s negotiations and hours of staff work that led up to it focused on comparing the two plans line-item by line-item to find possible areas of compromise, according to officials from both sides. House Democratic leaders said the process helped narrow the $700 million gap between the two proposals. The sides agree on most “macro” issues, they said, the disagreements now lie almost exclusively in the departments of education and community and economic development. House Democrats have proposed a $300 million increase in education spending, which is $54 million less than the governor originally called for. Senate Republican leaders have said in light of a projected $1.4 billion revenue shortfall, any program or department would be lucky to not receive a reduction, let alone see an increase in funding. The legislative leaders will now take their proposals to the governor, who reiterated his optimism over the budget negotiations after an afternoon meeting Wednesday but cautioned he would do a more thorough review on the spending plans through the night with his staff. Despite the universal optimism over this year’s budget talks, much of the funding allocated into next year’s revenue stems from $850 million in FMAP funding yet to be approved by Congress. Speaker McCall said the federal assistance, subject of a heated debate in Washington, might now come in less than the originally proposed $850 million, leaving a potential gaping hole in next year’s budget.  |
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 Chamber Newsletter: Business Connections UPCOMING EVENTS 9/14/2010 Tuesday 3:30 PM Membership Orientation Sponsored by Sphere 9/16/2010 Thursday 5:00 PM Business After Hours @ Penn State Brandywine 9/23/2010 Thursday 5:30 PM DCYP Mortgage Seminar 9/28/2010 Tuesday 11:30 AM Knowledge @ Noon - Knowledge is Power: Is it Safe to Get Back in the Water?
IN THE NEWS
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