Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman (R-Centre) told the media Wednesday the Senate will give the House revenue package serious consideration over the next few days and hopefully come back next week ready finish work on the budget, adding “there is a lot of value in getting this done.”
He said amending what the House sent over and returning it and expecting success was a longshot at best.
At the same time, he noted, there were concerns in his Caucus about the amount of borrowing in the House proposal and whether the proposal will sustain the budget going forward. The House proposed $1.5 billion in borrowing and the Senate package had $1.3 billion, both based on Tobacco Settlement revenues.
He noted the level of borrowing does mean all the programs now funded by the Tobacco Settlement funds would not be funded this year and maybe in the future, but said said they would have the opportunity in FY 2018-19 to fund them in other ways.
He repeated what he has said before that he does not want to monetize assets and borrow money and then be back doing the same thing for the FY 2018-19 budget. “What’s left to monetize?”
Asked about two specific issues, he said there would be no video gaming terminals component in any gambling expansion bill coming out of the Senate.
On the natural gas severance tax just approved by the House Finance Committee this morning, Sen. Corman said he does not know if that bill will even pass the House. He added the Senate would not consider any severance tax without the permit “reform” provisions the Senate included in its version of the tax.
Asked what else he expected the House to do, Sen. Corman said he understands they may run the Administrative Code bill-- House Bill 118- and send it to the Governor, but he was not certain.
The Admin Code bill includes a series of environmental riders, including--
-- Recycling Fee Extension: Removes the sunset date for the $2/ton municipal waste recycling fee and funds will remain in the Recycling fund for grants.
-- Solar Borders: Requiring solar energy credits under the Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards to be purchased within Pennsylvania. [Senate Bill 404 this session, House Bill 2040 last session.]
-- Manganese Standard: Directs the Environmental Quality Board to adopt a proposed manganese standard within 90 days that includes the 1 milligram/liter manganese standard established under 25 Pa Code Chapter 93.7 and insure the standard is met at the point of intake for water suppliers (25 Pa Code Chapter 96.3). The 1 milligram/liter standard is 20 times the level of manganese that water suppliers are allowed to have in their water supplies, according to EPA’s secondary maximum contaminant levels.
-- Conventional Oil & Gas Wastewater Treatment: Requires water treatment facilities providing water disposal services exclusively to conventional oil and gas wells shall be allowed to operate under existing permits through December 31, 2019. \[Supported by conventional oil & gas drilling industry and applies to three privately-operated conventional wastewater treatment facilities.]
-- Wyoming County State Park: Requires DCNR to conduct a feasibility study for the establishment of a state park in Wyoming County, including an appraisal of the fair market value of property proposed for a state park. [No funding provided.
Sen. Corman said they hope to get some clarity on some key issues from both the House and Gov. Wolf over the next few days.
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