By Jan Murphy
on July 01, 2014 at 12:08 AM, updated July 01, 2014 at 3:07 AM
When Gov. Tom Corbett took a look at the $29.1 billion general fund budget plan that the General Assembly sent to him on Monday, it was missing something he wanted.
It lacked any meaningful pension reform to address the single expenditure in the budget that is eating up 60 cents of every new dollar.
So less than half-hour after the House voted 108-95 on a mostly party-line vote to approve the plan that increases spending by a little less than 2 percent, Corbett made the decision to sacrifice his perfect record of signing an appropriations bill before the July 1 start of the new fiscal year.
“I will continue to work with the Legislature toward meaningful pension reform,” the governor said in a statement. “I am withholding signing the budget passed by the General Assembly while I deliberate its impact on the people of Pennsylvania.”
Democrats were puzzled that Corbett would hold up the budget since the pension reform proposal he supported has zero impact on the 2014-15 pension contributions.
Full story: Corbett wants General Assembly to send him ‘meaningful pension reform’ before signing the budget by Jan Murphy, Pennlive, 6/27/14
