Jun 19, 2009 4:19 pm US/Eastern
Lawmakers: Budget Won't Pass By Deadline
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ―
Two state lawmakers from the Pittsburgh area say Pennsylvania won't have a budget passed by the deadline of June 30.
They say that is mostly because there will not be a compromise on Governor Ed Rendell's proposal to increase the personal income tax.
It seems as if no one, not even Democrat Dan Frankel, is giving an income tax hike a ringing endorsement.
"I'm willing to look at alternatives. I believe we need to raise revenues. If the personal income tax is one of the methods to do that it's something I'm certainly going to consider," he said.
Republican Mike Turzai says he will not vote for the governor's proposal to cover a more than $3 billion budget shortfall.
"The recession may have exacerbated it but that's not the cause of the problem in Pennsylvania," says Turzai. "The problem in Pennsylvania is that Governor Rendell has spent at a 40 percent rate when the rate of inflation was 19 percent."
But Frankel believes budget trouble was inevitable given federal cuts in social services and the floundering economy.
"I don't think this is about spending it's about declining revenues," he said.
Both men agree that lawmakers must cut their own spending as much as they're asking residents to.
You can watch the entire interview with State House members Dan Frankel and Mike Turzai on the KD-PG Sunday Edition at 11:30 a.m. Sunday on KDKA-TV.
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