Pa. Budget Talks Remain Stuck In Neutral
By Tony Romeo
HARRISBURG, Pa., (CBS) -- As Pennsylvania nears the end of its second week without a budget, "posturing" and "acrimony" were words used after a meeting between Democratic Governor Tom Wolf and Republican legislative leaders late Monday afternoon.
While the participants put on a brave face, there was little indication of progress after Monday's budget talks. Joe Scarnati, the top Republican in the Senate, noted that he's a veteran of budget stalemates during the Rendell years.
"I think that the level of acrimony is the probably the highest I've ever seen."
Scarnati added that the acrimony is coming from both sides. Governor Wolf, meanwhile, suggested there's no real negotiation taking place.
"I want to have a conversation… I want to actually move beyond the posturing that these meetings have been, and get into some substantive conversations."
Republicans say the governor refuses to move off of his demands for increases in the sales and income taxes to support state spending while the governor says he's stunned by the "intransigence" of the House speaker on Wolf's proposal to impose a tax on natural gas extraction.