Effort To End PA Budget Stalemate Stalls Again

HARRISBURG (CBS) -- Efforts to end Pennsylvania's marathon budget stalemate before the end of the year suffered a major setback on Saturday when the House resoundingly defeated a pension reform bill linked to the budget.

Reform of state worker and teacher pensions is a top priority of Republicans who control the Senate. But despite the fact that Democratic Governor Tom Wolf agreed to it as part of a budget framework agreement, Joe Markosek, ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, said Democrats opposed a bill put up for a House vote Saturday.

"The governor has said he would sign it," Markosek said. "We have told him we had some problems with it."

The pension bill was voted down overwhelmingly in the House. Afterward Republican Jake Corman, the Senate majority leader, said the Senate stood by its position that there will be no new revenue without pension reform, and threw down this challenge to the House.

"We will wait for the House to pass us a 12 month budget that does not include taxes," Corman said.

Efforts to end the budget stalemate are in limbo with the standoff nearly six months old.