Pennsylvania Gets More Bad Budget News In April
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania's tax collections in the all-important month of April are lagging badly, and it's threatening to knock Gov. Tom Corbett's election-year budget proposal $1billion out of balance.
Top Republican lawmakers were meeting with Corbett on the matter late Tuesday afternoon.
Lawmakers and legislative staff say April tax collections are now so far behind projections that the only question is how severe the shortfall will be.
The governor was counting on robust tax collections, some new sources of cash and delaying pension and health care payments to pump hundreds of millions of additional dollars into public schools and social services.
On Monday, credit rating agency Standard & Poor's warned it could downgrade Pennsylvania's rating if it doesn't see significant strides to structurally balance the budget and address long-term pension liabilities.
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