Pa. Lawmakers Open Budget Hearings Amid Extraordinary Uncertainty

By Tony Romeo

HARRISBURG, Pa., (CBS) -- Pennsylvania lawmakers opened hearings Monday on Governor Tom Wolf's proposed budget under extraordinary circumstances.

The situation, unprecedented in recent decades, finds lawmakers delving into the Governor's proposal for spending in the next fiscal year based on a current fiscal year budget that is incomplete. As the Senate Appropriations Committee began budget hearings Monday morning, Republican Jake Corman, the Senate majority leader, questioned the governor's dire predictions for schools. Corman contends there was significant new funding for schools in a December budget Democrat Wolf partially vetoed.

"The Governor is using all this rhetoric to incite people where we increase funding in every one of those lines," said Corman.

Wolf's budget secretary, Randy Albright, responded.

"It's not rhetoric, it's math," said Albright.

If the first few hours of hearings are any indication, this year's budget process is shaping up a lot like last year's.

In:
• Pennsylvania
• Tom Wolf
• Education