Key GOP Senator Expects 'Drastic' Budget Proposal From Corbett

By Tony Romeo

HARRISBURG, Pa. (CBS) - The top Republican in the state Senate says he's braced for another painful budget process as Governor Corbett outlines his spending proposals during a speech before a joint session of the legislature today.

Governor Corbett's first budget approved last year produced much gnashing of teeth and this year, revenue collections are again hundreds of millions of dollars below projections. So Republican Joe Scarnati, the president pro tem of the Senate, says he does not expect a lot of good cheer to be spread around by the governor as he delivers his budget speech today.

"During the Rendell years at the budget table we've cut through fat, last year we cut through muscle and this year it looks like we're going into bone. These are very difficult times and this budget's got to reflect the economy that we're in and the plight of the taxpayer."

So Scarnati says he expects a "pretty drastic" budget proposal from the governor, including more cuts to higher education, hit hard in the budget enacted last June.