A cadre of House Republicans, including several midstate lawmakers, will unveil today a plan they say will resolve a state budget stalemate that has dragged on all summer.

Seventeen members of the state House GOP will hold a 1 p.m. news conference at the state Capitol to discuss their plan to wipe away a $2.2 billion hole in the $32 billion state budget.



The General Assembly passed the budget in June, and Gov. Tom Wolf let it become law without his signature in July, despite the lack of a revenue package to pay for it. The Senate then passed a revenue bill that included a severance tax on natural-gas drilling, heavy borrowing against future revenue, increased utility taxes and an expansion of casino gambling.



But the House GOP has opposed the plan and no action has been taken.



The Republican coalition in the House said in a news release that its proposal will “fully fund the state budget without the need for raising taxes.”



According to other media reports, the budget alternative will propose to pull reserve monies from various state agencies and transfer them to the general fund.



In a tweet this morning, Rep. Stephen Bloom (R-Cumberland) said: “We’ve discovered taxpayer $ just wasting away in state coffers, never used at all. Sensible to finally use it instead of more debt or taxes.”



Lawmakers need to act soon. Treasurer Joe Torsella has warned that the general fund will go to zero on Sept. 15, unless steps are taken to resolve the budget shortfall. The House is not scheduled to resume official work until Sept. 11.



Short-term lines of credit and borrowing money from the Motor License Fund have helped in recent weeks. But additional borrowing seems unlikely based on comments made last week by Torsella.



If a revenue package is not ironed out soon, payments for state programs could be on hold. Pennsylvania also is facing a downgrade in its credit rating. A downgrade would increase debt-service costs and limit future borrowing options.



Revenue picture

Despite the budget stalemate, the state continues to collect taxes.



So far, those collections have outpaced the first two months of 2016, according to the Department of Revenue.



Fiscal year-to-date collection totaled $4.2 billion, up from $4 billion at the end of last August.



Of that total, $1.8 billion has come from sales taxes. That’s up from about $1.7 billion last year.



Personal income tax collections were flat at $1.7 billion, while corporate taxes totaled $120.8 million, up from $111.2 million a year ago.



Without a final budget, collection data can’t be compared against anticipated amounts because revenue estimates for each month have not been finalized.

