Rendell Predicts 12,000 Layoffs Without Federal Aid

Governor Rendell now puts at more than 12,000 the estimated number of layoffs that would result if Congress fails to approve federal medical assistance for Pennsylvania and other states.

As KYW's Tony Romeo reports, Governor Rendell had previously indicated that teacher and government worker layoffs could reach 20-thousand if Congress does not approve $850 million dollars for Pennsylvania. Now, after compiling data from local governments and school districts, he has come up with a more conservative estimate of 12,000 -13,000 layoffs:
 
"Three thousand educator jobs, mostly teachers, almost 4,000 state jobs, and more than 5,500 local and county jobs--the policemen, the firefighters, the caseworkers."

Rendell says the bill now in the pipeline would provide about 70 percent of the money Pennsylvania anticipated, but he's not prepared right now to discuss how the state might deal with the smaller budget gap that would result.

A vote in the US Senate could come Wednesday.