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For Immediate Release
September 11, 2009
Contact: Sally Kohr
(717) 787-4651

Senator Alloway Applauds Tentative Budget Agreement 

HARRISBURG – Senator Richard Alloway II (R-33) applauded today’s announcement that legislative leaders have reached an agreement in principle on the 2009-10 state budget. 

"I am relieved that we have reached an agreement that spends less than last year and does not increase the Personal Income Tax or any other broad-based taxes," Alloway said. "This agreement would make substantial reductions in government spending to deal with the economic downturn, and it offers a realistic blueprint for an economic recovery." 

Leaders from the Senate Republican, House Democratic, and Senate Democratic caucuses said that the agreement calls for the adoption of a $27.945 billion spending plan with no broad-based tax increases. It uses a combination of one-time revenues and recurring revenues to produce a balanced budget for 2009-10 which maintains adequate funding for core government services and provides key investments in basic education. 

The plan includes an increase of $300 million in the basic education subsidy. Among the revenue sources included in the plan are a slowdown in the phase-out of the Capital Stock and Franchise Tax, the introduction of table games at Pennsylvania’s casinos, and a 25-cent per pack increase in the cigarette tax. 

The agreement also taps the state’s Rainy Day Fund and will transfer an existing surplus in the Health Care Provider Retention Account to the General Fund. 

Work will continue through the weekend to draft the legislation necessary to enact the agreement. Alloway said the plan could be voted on in both the House and the Senate as early as next week.