PA budget hole is deeper than expected

Pennsylvania lawmakers are saying the state’s budget shortfall will likely top three billion dollars this year.

Pennsylvania lawmakers are saying the state’s budget shortfall will likely top three billion dollars this year.

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For months now, the Rendell Administration has been predicting a 2.3 billion dollar budget gap.

The General Assembly has been working with a 2.6 billion dollar figure, but Johnna Pro, the spokeswoman for House Appropriations Committee chair Dwight Evans, says April tax revenues came in below estimates, and the deficit will likely surpass three billion dollars.

Pro: That’s a big number. That’s a big number to have a shortfall for this year, and we’ll go into next year with a similar number. So it gives us a budget situation that’s far more complicated than it has been for a decade and a half.

A spokesman for Governor Rendell says the administration is waiting for official revenue figures to come in before revising any estimates.