Pennsylvania: Ed Rendell

The State House passed the budget resolution previously passed in the Senate as SB 850 and sent it to the Governor.  Ed Rendell will now use his line item veto to annul 75% of the drastic, mean spirited, anti-education Republican budget so state employees can continue core government functions and get paid.  Now the House, Senate and Governor need to get down to brass tacks and pass a real budget.  Republicans said yesterday they will not pass a budget which has Rendell's temporary three year income tax increase.  Remember that these are the same people who advocate the deregulation of business which caused this crisis.  After causing the economic meltdown now they refuse to do what must be done to deal with it.  This is a colossal failure of leadership.

From The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review's "Whispers" column:
Gamblin' Gov. Ed Rendell failed to disclose a day of good fortune at the Harrah's Chester Casino & Racetrack last year to the state Ethics Commission.

Rendell last week was forced to update his financial disclosure forms after neglecting to note his $2,000 in slot machine winnings, The Associated Press reported.

The commission regards gambling winnings as income, and any winnings of more than $1,300 annually must be disclosed.

Rendell spokesman Chuck Ardo said the omission was unintentional and attributed it to a "clerical oversight." It quickly was corrected, as matters such as this usually are, after the pesky media began asking questions about it.

POLICY BLOG is reporting that the state's projected budget deficit has grown by nearly $1 billion, following a historically low tax revenue collection month in April.

In other words, the mess Gov. Ed Rendell and the Legislature created is far worse than anyone could have imagined.

"Quite frankly, I am a bit astounded," writes Nathan Benefield, who has been monitoring the state's red ink for months. "This shortfall is almost three times the estimated shortfall the Office of the Budget provided us in mid-March. How did they get it so wrong? I will be curious if there is any explanation."

The official April tax revenue numbers have not been released yet, but lawmakers have said the April General Fund revenue shortfall is $941.

If you've been reading the Pittsburgh Women's Blogging Society (here and here), you know that PA Gov. Ed Rendell recently created an Oversight Commission to monitor stimulus spending. There are 14 members and of those 14 there's only one woman member and one minority member.

In about a half hour, there will be press conference at the United Steelworkers building hosted by State Rep. Chelsa Wagner to insist that the committee be geographically, racially, and gender balanced. Others scheduled to speak on this issue include State Rep. Jake Wheatley, 19th District; Heather Arnet, Women and Girls Foundation; and Doris Carson Williams, African-American Chamber of Commerce.