Indications that lawmakers are still relying on gambling expansion for a contribution to overall funding plan
Late Tuesday night the Pennsylvania House managed to vote 102 vs. 88 on a partial funding bill for the state budget, which was set 3 months ago and has been the subject of debate on how to fund the $32 billion spending bill.
The debate between House and Senate has included an expansion of gaming in which online gambling and daily fantasy sports legalisation has been proposed, although this element appears to now be regarded as a separate contributor (of around $200 million) to the measure approved Tuesday night.
When InfoPowa went to press Wednesday morning the full content of bill H.542 was still not clear, although lawmakers said it was a step forward in filling a $2 billion shortfall in the overall budget.
Local media reports indicate that the central element in the bill is a proposal to raise $1.5 billion through a “borrowing against future state tobacco settlement revenues.”
This would not be a recurring source of revenue, which Governor Tom Wolf has said he prefers, but House Republicans said it would resolve the shortfall problem, along with the gaming expansion and other sources which are revenue-recurring possibilities. The gaming expansion bill H 271 remains for now in the state Senate, although its exact content after the back and forth between House and Senate is not yet clear..
Whether the Senate and the governor will agree to the latest House move remains to be seen, but House Majority Leader Dave Reed appeared optimistic in an interview with local media reporters, which can be viewed here:
UPDATE:
The House bill has reached the Senate, where Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman told local media:
“We caucused on it, and will spend the next few days reviewing it and possibly addressing it next week.
“There is a historical amount of borrowing in the proposal which causes concern.”