TheLagerLad wrote:

From all accounts I have seen, the legislature is willing to give him more education funding and would also give him an extraction tax for a compromise on pension reform and/or liquor privitization.

Personally, I'm against liquor privatization, but if that was the deal on the table, I'd jump at it if I was Wolf. 

Maybe Wolf is gambling that with '16 coming up in a state that would likely vote for Hillary, that her coattails could turn the legislature back to the Dems, but I think that is highly unlikely. 

 
Wolf's counter-offer on liquor privatization was akin to what Corbett proposed to do with the lottery system (private management), but with the caveat that they would retain all the union employees in the PLCB.

I'm not sure the Republicans would get both liquor privatiztion and pension reforms, I think if they could one of those in a form close to what they are requesting, then Wolf can get the extraction tax, educational spending and a few of the new "sin" taxes that were in his latest revenue proposal.

Brady Bunch wrote:

Rongone wrote:

From the organization Education Voters of PA:


As you have heard, last week the PA House voted down Governor Wolf’s proposed budget package by a vote of 127-73 (118 Rs and 9 Ds opposed, 73 Ds supported) See how your lawmaker voted here.  This was an unusual vote because legislative leaders only permitted a vote on the revenue package and did not allow members to vote on a whole budget, which includes how the money would be spent.

Voting for taxes is tough, and it is even tougher when you don’t get to show people what the money will buy (funds for schools, libraries, seniors etc) and you know you are being used in a political stunt.  In spite of this, Democrats showed that they are willing to put up the votes needed to get this done so that only a small portion of Republicans will have to join them. So CHEERS to those willing to take a stand and vote for revenues (including the widely supported shale tax) so PA can fund schools and close the structural budget gap. CHEERS to the people who kept their campaign promises to support schools and tax the shale.

And JEERS to the people who stood up and said they couldn’t vote for the budget because they couldn’t see how it would be spent. Since the vote was ONLY for the revenue side of the budget, these elected officials showed us that they either didn’t understand what they were voting on or that they willfully misstated what was going on. We should be able expect better than that from PA’s elected officials.

Now what?

Apparently we can’t leave them alone for even a minute!  It is clear that the only thing that will force lawmakers to move their positions is MORE public pressure and direct contact from voters at home. Governor Wolf has made significant concessions on key issues, but continues to stand firm that PA must close the $2 billion structural deficit in its budget and restore funding to education to pre-Corbett levels this year so we can move toward getting schools on track in the future.

Lawmakers must step up and support a budget that is restore $410 million in new state funding for schools and adopt the formula recommended by the Basic Education Funding Commission. They must also support a reasonable revenue package to ensure we have the funding to do it and we aren’t short changing kids because lawmakers are too afraid to cast tough votes.

 
It was unusual for there to be a vote on just the revenue package, but that was at the request of Governor Wolf.  He even held a press event and "pitched" why he needed these revenues and why he thought they were necessary.

The Governor believed he would be able to get the votes needed to pass this (he thought some Republicans from Southeast Pa might vote for it), and he came up short with several newly elected Dems in purple districts not willing to vote for a tax increase on personal income.

The vote in June by the legislature was a political stunt when they rejected the revenue package, but the vote this time was all at the request of the Governor.

So, you're saying that the governor of the commonwealth controls the calendar and agenda of the state house?
 

For a guy who claimed that he wasn't a politician and would be a different kind of governor, Tom Wolf learned the ropes of being a typical politician rather quickly.

Brady Bunch wrote:

No, of course he doesn't control the calendar and agenda.

However, this was his request.  They gave him what he wanted, what should they have done?

I'm sure the Governor felt this was a no-lose situation.  Perhaps they would approve it and then he gets what he wants, they reject it and he can do what he is doing and have his supporters (like the email you mentioned) blame the Republicans for rejecting it or the legislature doesn't bring it up for a vote and then he can say they won't give his proposal an actual vote.

In our representative republic it is necessary for the executive and legislative branches of the government to cooperate, collaborate, and compromise in order to operate effectively and efficiently to serve the people. Unfortunately this has not been the case in PA for some time now. The two major parties spend more time blaming each other for the shortcomings of the elected officials than simply performing the sworn duties of their offices.

To me, one of the essential requirements of a representative republic is active public participation. That is the reason that I routinely write to my elected representative, senator, and executive to inform them of my position on various issues. This is what I have done on this whole budget impasse issue, to Wagner, Saylor, and Wolf. I do not agree on everything each side is seeking, but, I have made them aware of where I stand in regards to education spending, pension reform, infrastructure spending, severance fees on drillers, other possible revenue streams, property tax, privatization of liquor stores, etc. I expect answers and actions through compromise. As long as the electorate lets our elected officials get away with partisan double speak and the biased blame game, we will continue to live with governmental gridlock. I find this unacceptable and do what little one person can to move the process forward. I keep thinking that if more people had the same attitude, it might convince these bozos in Harrisburg that we expect them to get off the dime and do their jobs.

Oh, and by the way, I would submit that the legislative branch, due to their abdication of their constitutionally assigned duty, are the major contributors (or should it be non-contributors) that has caused the budget impasse.

Sorry for the rant, but sometimes you just have to let it out.
 

Conspiracy Theory wrote:

We're starting to run out of supplies.

Four of our 11 printers are shut down for lack of toner.  More will be shut down when the paper supply runs out.

Our remaining general office supplies (post-its, paper clips, staples, etc...) are depleted.  What each worker has now is all that's left.

Heard rumors about the EBT (electronic benefits system) contractor shutting down the network if they aren't paid...don't know how much truth there is to that.

I know what you mean, we have heard of plenty of offices in Hbg that have run out of paper and have little to no supplies.