State Lawmakers Begin Advancing $11B Budget Package

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Pennsylvania’s Legislature is set to vote on an $11 billion no-new-taxes spending package to carry state government through the rest of the fiscal year and fill a multibillion-dollar deficit inflicted by the pandemic. The legislation emerged Thursday from closed-door talks as lawmakers rush to wrap up their two-year session. Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, earlier this fall asked the Republican-controlled Legislature for another $10 billion in spending to round out the fiscal year. That was after lawmakers approved a piecemeal $25.8 billion budget in May. To close the deficit, lawmakers are using more than $3 billion in federal pandemic aid and transferring more than $500 million from off-budget state accounts. House and Senate floor votes are possible Friday.