They can't even agree on what out current deficit is. 

 

Common Sense wrote:

Pa. House says no, 193-0, to Gov. Wolf's tax plan!

Read the full story here:
http://triblive.com/news/adminpage/8481354-74/tax-budget-vote#axzz3brKuXBoj

HARRISBURG — House Republicans called up Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf's tax-shifting plan on Monday, and the House shot it down by a unanimous vote.

Minority Leader Frank Dermody, D-Oakmont, called the vote on an amendment that contained Wolf's tax plan “a political stunt.”“It does nothing to move this process forward,” Dermody said. “I would never ask (Democrats) to vote for a stunt.”Wolf denounced the vote as “gamesmanship” and said it was an effort to “‘see if we can embarrass the administration.'”

But Majority Leader David Reed, R-Indiana County, said the vote gave the Wolf administration what it wanted: a vote on the entire tax package in his budget, rather than breaking it into pieces for individual votes.“I think today is an accurate reflection if you consider the governor's budget” presented in March, Reed said.

Rep. Seth Grove, R-York County, said members based the vote on language built “word for word, sentence by sentence” on Wolf's budget proposal.The plan includes billions of dollars in tax shifting to reduce property taxes and increase state spending.

Wolf proposes taxing the extraction of natural gas from the Marcellus shale, raising cigarette taxes and taxing cigars and snuff. All told, GOP members said, it's a $4.7 billion tax increase.“As has often been stated, this tax proposal encompasses everything from the cradle to the grave,” said Gene Barr, president of the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry, who supported the House vote.The test vote on the Wolf budget was voted down 193-0.

Meh. Do a deep analysis on the legislative manuevering during the vote and you'll learn that both the D's and R's were trying to get each other to vote "yes" on an amendment that would make them look unfavorable to the voting public

FromPolitics PA

It’s certainly going to be an interesting summer.

Just a month out from the budget deadline we witnessed the first real brouhaha of the session.

It all started with a legislative game of chicken.

The Republicans introduced a spending plan that didn’t include any of the Governor’s budget proposals. In response, the Democrats proposed an amendment to include Gov. Wolf’s plan to increase funding for schools in the hopes of getting Republicans on the record voting against it.

Instead, the GOP one upped the opposition by amending the bill with all of Governor Wolf’s proposed tax plans.
The minority party had no desire to lose this battle, so they went against the bill as well.

As a result, the House unanimously voted the bill down.

Now PA Republicans can assert that Wolf’s program is so unpopular that nobody voted for it.

In fact, they already have.

National Republicans tried something similar back in 2012 in order embarrass President Obama in an election year.

Suffice to say, the Governor was upset (or as upset as he is physically able to get). He soon emerged for a quick press conference to denounce the maneuver.

“Let me just be clear, what the Republicans did just a few minutes ago, was a stunt,” Governor Wolf declared, using the word “stunt” repeatedly.

“It’s a funny way to start a conversation,” he concluded.

With just less than a month to go and both parties still preoccupied with gaining some political cover, it’s fair to say the prospects of an agreement don’t exactly appear great.

I think we can all agree that this was a typical Harrisburg do-nothingness in all of its usual unseriousness.

They have three weeks to go. I'm sure we'll see many more votes before we get to an agreement.

Good post, Lager.  Once again we how a headline doesn't tell the whole story.  Thanks for explaining it. 

The Republicans introduced a spending plan that didn’t include any of the Governor’s budget proposals. In response, the Democrats proposed an amendment to include Gov. Wolf’s plan to increase funding for schools in the hopes of getting Republicans on the record voting against it.

Instead, the GOP one upped the opposition by amending the bill with all of Governor Wolf’s proposed tax plans.
The minority party had no desire to lose this battle, so they went against the bill as well.

Yes, thanks Lager. You post provided some most needed insight into this dance.