The State Senate Appropriations Committee will begin budget hearings on Monday morning, days after the House Appropriations Committee concluded its hearings. Senator Joe Pittman is a member of the Senate committee, while Representative Jim Struzzi sits on the House committee.
Monday’s hearing schedule includes both morning and afternoon sessions. In the morning, the committee will hear from the Independent Fiscal Office. In the afternoon, it will be the turn of the lottery branch of the Department of Revenue.
Governor Wolf has called for a $41.2 billion state budget, asking for a 46 percent increase in the state’s personal income tax, along with his annual request for the imposition of a natural gas severance tax on Marcellus Shale drilling. Wolf has also renewed his proposal to charge every municipality in Pennsylvania for state police coverage, whether or not they already have local police forces.
Senate Republicans have sharply criticized Wolf’s plan and plan to introduced their own state budget after the Appropriations Committee hearings conclude.
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