The House Republican caucus seemed to emerge from a several hours-long internal meeting Saturday afternoon with bad news for fans of the five-party budget framework agreed to just before Thanksgiving.
Following what appeared to be a complicated discussion, rank-and-file members told reporters that the caucus has agreed to run a pared-down $30.2 billion budget bill that no longer includes the governor’s increases in public education and also no longer includes GOP priorities of pension and liquor reform.
That bill is slated for a Sunday vote in the House Appropriations Committee.
“It’s far pared-down,” said Rep. Seth Grove (R-York). “No sales tax, sales tax expansion, PIT, that kind of stuff.”
He said the decision to drop pension and liquor reform was made after the realization the governor would not support the concepts without his desired increases in revenue, but he did not say whether or not the proposal would fly with Senate Republicans or the governor.