For a while now, Morrisville residents have eagerly awaited the "six point plan" put forward by the Emperor, but safely hidden from the public's scrutiny and debate.
One parent has now gone to the state to force the Emperor to make the plan public. Kate Fratti has a blog entry about it.
My reading of the PA state right to know law exceptions says that this is not likely to prevail.
Here's hoping I'm wrong.
What's the plan, Mr. Hellman?
By: Kate Fratti
In Morrisville, a parent applied to receive a copy of "a six point plan," authored by School Board President Bill Hellmann and has been denied. Kevin Leather has appealled under the right to know laws. Here's hoping he's successful. Folks have a right to know what their elected leaders are planning. Or in this case, should the word be plotting? Why else would leaders be so secretive?
April 20, 2009 05:35 PM
Monday, April 27, 2009
Mayoral Discussion?
Thanks to the emailer who sent this.
The Grandview Greats deserve a big round of applause, along with their teachers, coaches, and parents.
We can talk about the mayoral and borough council races. They are as important as the school board elections.
We had a visit from candidate Graeme Thomson earlier but I think we scared him off. His message did leave some items out for open discussion.
This might be a good time to mention that I will post in its entirety, anything any announced candidate for mayor, council, or school board, would care to provide.
Scanned copies of campaign literature dropped off at your doorstep are also welcomed.
I will not claim to post without comment. I know some of the readership would probably comment also.
Two things:
Reading Olympics
The fourth and fifth graders won a blue ribbon at the annual Reading Olympics held at Bensalem High School in April. There were over 100 schools represented. Not only did the Morrisville team (Grandview Greats) win a blue ribbon, they scored 60 points - only a handful of schools earned sixty or over. I was there. One of the moderators complimented our kids for their behavior and courtesy. They were so impressive. Worked so well together, all participated, they were respectful and considerate, applauded the other teams, etc. They worked all year preparing for this event, just like any other sports team preparing for a tournament.
These 13 kids are our future high schoolers! We can't let them down!
Mayoral Candidates
Will we be discussing the candidates on this blog?
The Grandview Greats deserve a big round of applause, along with their teachers, coaches, and parents.
We can talk about the mayoral and borough council races. They are as important as the school board elections.
We had a visit from candidate Graeme Thomson earlier but I think we scared him off. His message did leave some items out for open discussion.
This might be a good time to mention that I will post in its entirety, anything any announced candidate for mayor, council, or school board, would care to provide.
Scanned copies of campaign literature dropped off at your doorstep are also welcomed.
I will not claim to post without comment. I know some of the readership would probably comment also.
Two things:
Reading Olympics
The fourth and fifth graders won a blue ribbon at the annual Reading Olympics held at Bensalem High School in April. There were over 100 schools represented. Not only did the Morrisville team (Grandview Greats) win a blue ribbon, they scored 60 points - only a handful of schools earned sixty or over. I was there. One of the moderators complimented our kids for their behavior and courtesy. They were so impressive. Worked so well together, all participated, they were respectful and considerate, applauded the other teams, etc. They worked all year preparing for this event, just like any other sports team preparing for a tournament.
These 13 kids are our future high schoolers! We can't let them down!
Mayoral Candidates
Will we be discussing the candidates on this blog?
Recession may teach lesson no job is safe
From the Allentown Morning Call.
Recession may teach lesson no job is safe
Easton Area is talking staff cuts that could bring ruling on state law
By Scott Kraus | and Christopher Baxter Of The Morning Call April 26, 2009
Teaching jobs have long been thought of as safe havens from economic uncertainty, insulated from the ups and downs of the financial markets.
That has been especially true in Pennsylvania, where state law makes it difficult, if not impossible, for school districts to balance budgets with teacher layoffs.
The Easton Area School District made a move to change that last week, warning that it might join financially strapped school districts in California and Washington in handing teachers pink slips.
Facing a budget shortfall, and unhappy with the cost of the five-year teachers contract the school board approved unanimously in 2007, district officials asked the union Tuesday to reopen the deal or face job cuts.
''I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't see some number of school districts feel like they had no choice but to try to open those deals back up,'' said Kent McGuire, dean of Temple University's College of Education. ''At least they want to take credit for having tried to have that conversation.''
While even the threat of mass teacher layoffs is new to Pennsylvania, the economy has pushed schools elsewhere to take the drastic step.
The number of districts planning staff cuts quadrupled in the past year to 44 percent nationwide, a March study by the American Association of School Administrators found. Teachers made up about 40 percent of those targeted.
The Easton Area Education Association has asked the district to tap some of the $5.1 million in proceeds it expects to get from the federal economic stimulus to stave off the cuts. But the district so far has balked at the idea.
Can they or can't they?
The question is whether Pennsylvania's restrictions on layoffs make Easton's warning that it may cut 45 to 60 teaching jobs a hollow threat.
Districts can lay off teachers only if enrollment drops or if an educational program is discontinued. The state prohibits layoffs just to balance the budget.
If Easton Area goes ahead with the layoffs, it may face a battle from the Pennsylvania State Education Association, which says it will fight any effort to lay off teachers for financial reasons.
''I think they are grandstanding,'' said PSEA President James Testerman. ''It is inappropriate and illegal and most importantly sad for the kids Â… We will use every legal means to make sure they are complying with Pennsylvania law.''
The ability to let teachers go for financial reasons is something school districts would like to have, said Sean Fields, Pennsylvania School Boards Association attorney.
''There are enumerated reasons teachers can be suspended, but those reasons are not specifically economic reasons,'' Fields said.
The school boards association wants to change that. It spelled out its reasoning in an education reform proposal to state lawmakers earlier this year.
''Every other public and private sector employer except for school districts has the prerogative to make adjustments to its work force when hard economic times hit,'' the proposal reads.
But Easton believes a decision to make cuts is on firm ground. Easton Area business manager Marie Guidry said the district's solicitor has assured administrators they can make teacher cuts.
The district plans to rely on a provision in the Pennsylvania School Code that says schools can suspend teachers ''as a result of substantial decline in class or course enrollments,'' she said.
The state Department of Education must approve such suspensions to prevent districts from slashing courses and teachers simply to save money, said Leah Harris, spokeswoman for the department.
So far this school year, the state has approved 17 of 18 of school district requests, Harris said, most recently for the Pottstown School District, which cut a swimming program for Grades 1 to 6.
Most have involved just one or two positions.
A plan such as Easton's to cut dozens of teachers -- a move Guidry says would save $4 million in salaries and benefits -- would be unusual, if not unprecedented, Harris said.
Quality debate
Easton Area plans to argue that it is simply carrying out a policy that scraps classes that fail to draw more than 10 students, said Superintendent Susan McGinley. The district also plans to increase class sizes and freeze hiring for all but state-required courses.
High school electives would be most affected under the 10-student rule, said union President Kevin Deely. And cutting only those would fall far short of the district's goal, he said.
Just the prospect of class eliminations has alarmed students, who have started a Facebook group to fight the cuts.
Deely said the district cannot afford to slice the jobs without hurting education quality. Easton's student-to-teacher ratio is about 12-1, comparable with other Lehigh Valley districts and liable to rise to 13-1 with layoffs.
''I think the district is still understaffed,'' Deely said, adding that it is among those needing ''corrective action'' -- a label the state gives to districts that are academically struggling. Easton Area High School has struggled to meet benchmarks for the reading and math portions of the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment exams.
Stimulus to the rescue?
Deely wants the district to use federal stimulus money to maintain staffing.
Before the stimulus passed, the National Education Association projected 2009 could bring as many as 600,000 school personnel layoffs, said spokesman Bill Parker.
''We're predicting this recovery bill is going to save almost all of those jobs, it will just vary from state to state,'' Parker said.
All $5.1 million of Easton Area's projected stimulus share can be used to ''avert layoffs and promote reform,'' said U.S. Department of Education spokeswoman Sandra Abrevaya.
About $814,000 of Easton's stimulus package is expected to come in the form of stabilization dollars, which are specifically targeted to avoid layoffs, said state Department of Education spokesman Mike Race.
The rest of the money comes with some restrictions, but could be used in ways that would preserve jobs, he said.
Guidry, who said previously that the district might use some stimulus money to install energy-efficient doors and windows, said the district doesn't want to tap the stimulus for salaries.
''That stimulus money will be only for the next two years,'' she said. ''After that we would be looking at a larger deficit.''
District officials say their efforts to gain concessions is driven by grim fiscal realities: declining property tax receipts, plunging investment earnings and rising pension costs.
That contrasts with 2007, when the district signed the five-year contract, and experts were still debating whether the slowing economy would turn into a recession in 2008.
The contract's annual raises of 4.9 percent were similar to those in the Parkland and Nazareth Area school districts.
Easton Area School Board ratified the deal by a vote of 6-0, with two abstentions. Board President Patricia Fisher has since said she and her colleagues did not fully understand its costs.
Former business manager Jeffrey Bader predicted at the time that the pact would save the district money through early retirements, but Guidry said the sagging economy has prompted many teachers to put off retiring.
Easton Area teachers are far from the state's highest paid. The average teacher earned $49,422 in the 2006-07 school year – the most recent state Department of Education survey -- ranking 404th out 727 districts in the state. This school year, the average Easton teacher earned $53,644, according to the district.
The district's 2008-09 maximum salary of $70,050 for teachers with a master's degree is higher than 57 percent of districts in the commonwealth, while its starting salary of $41,300 is higher than 76 percent of districts, according to the school boards association.
In Pennsylvania, those wages have come with a measure of job security that's not available in many other states, said Dan Domenech, executive director of the American Association of School Administrators.
Far from being immune to economic stress, financial problems in public education usually lag the national economy by about a year, he said.
''The story I am hearing pretty regularly everywhere I go Â… there's going to be a lot of elimination of positions,'' he said. ''And under the best of circumstances, it is going to be done through attrition.''
Recession may teach lesson no job is safe
Easton Area is talking staff cuts that could bring ruling on state law
By Scott Kraus | and Christopher Baxter Of The Morning Call April 26, 2009
Teaching jobs have long been thought of as safe havens from economic uncertainty, insulated from the ups and downs of the financial markets.
That has been especially true in Pennsylvania, where state law makes it difficult, if not impossible, for school districts to balance budgets with teacher layoffs.
The Easton Area School District made a move to change that last week, warning that it might join financially strapped school districts in California and Washington in handing teachers pink slips.
Facing a budget shortfall, and unhappy with the cost of the five-year teachers contract the school board approved unanimously in 2007, district officials asked the union Tuesday to reopen the deal or face job cuts.
''I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't see some number of school districts feel like they had no choice but to try to open those deals back up,'' said Kent McGuire, dean of Temple University's College of Education. ''At least they want to take credit for having tried to have that conversation.''
While even the threat of mass teacher layoffs is new to Pennsylvania, the economy has pushed schools elsewhere to take the drastic step.
The number of districts planning staff cuts quadrupled in the past year to 44 percent nationwide, a March study by the American Association of School Administrators found. Teachers made up about 40 percent of those targeted.
The Easton Area Education Association has asked the district to tap some of the $5.1 million in proceeds it expects to get from the federal economic stimulus to stave off the cuts. But the district so far has balked at the idea.
Can they or can't they?
The question is whether Pennsylvania's restrictions on layoffs make Easton's warning that it may cut 45 to 60 teaching jobs a hollow threat.
Districts can lay off teachers only if enrollment drops or if an educational program is discontinued. The state prohibits layoffs just to balance the budget.
If Easton Area goes ahead with the layoffs, it may face a battle from the Pennsylvania State Education Association, which says it will fight any effort to lay off teachers for financial reasons.
''I think they are grandstanding,'' said PSEA President James Testerman. ''It is inappropriate and illegal and most importantly sad for the kids Â… We will use every legal means to make sure they are complying with Pennsylvania law.''
The ability to let teachers go for financial reasons is something school districts would like to have, said Sean Fields, Pennsylvania School Boards Association attorney.
''There are enumerated reasons teachers can be suspended, but those reasons are not specifically economic reasons,'' Fields said.
The school boards association wants to change that. It spelled out its reasoning in an education reform proposal to state lawmakers earlier this year.
''Every other public and private sector employer except for school districts has the prerogative to make adjustments to its work force when hard economic times hit,'' the proposal reads.
But Easton believes a decision to make cuts is on firm ground. Easton Area business manager Marie Guidry said the district's solicitor has assured administrators they can make teacher cuts.
The district plans to rely on a provision in the Pennsylvania School Code that says schools can suspend teachers ''as a result of substantial decline in class or course enrollments,'' she said.
The state Department of Education must approve such suspensions to prevent districts from slashing courses and teachers simply to save money, said Leah Harris, spokeswoman for the department.
So far this school year, the state has approved 17 of 18 of school district requests, Harris said, most recently for the Pottstown School District, which cut a swimming program for Grades 1 to 6.
Most have involved just one or two positions.
A plan such as Easton's to cut dozens of teachers -- a move Guidry says would save $4 million in salaries and benefits -- would be unusual, if not unprecedented, Harris said.
Quality debate
Easton Area plans to argue that it is simply carrying out a policy that scraps classes that fail to draw more than 10 students, said Superintendent Susan McGinley. The district also plans to increase class sizes and freeze hiring for all but state-required courses.
High school electives would be most affected under the 10-student rule, said union President Kevin Deely. And cutting only those would fall far short of the district's goal, he said.
Just the prospect of class eliminations has alarmed students, who have started a Facebook group to fight the cuts.
Deely said the district cannot afford to slice the jobs without hurting education quality. Easton's student-to-teacher ratio is about 12-1, comparable with other Lehigh Valley districts and liable to rise to 13-1 with layoffs.
''I think the district is still understaffed,'' Deely said, adding that it is among those needing ''corrective action'' -- a label the state gives to districts that are academically struggling. Easton Area High School has struggled to meet benchmarks for the reading and math portions of the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment exams.
Stimulus to the rescue?
Deely wants the district to use federal stimulus money to maintain staffing.
Before the stimulus passed, the National Education Association projected 2009 could bring as many as 600,000 school personnel layoffs, said spokesman Bill Parker.
''We're predicting this recovery bill is going to save almost all of those jobs, it will just vary from state to state,'' Parker said.
All $5.1 million of Easton Area's projected stimulus share can be used to ''avert layoffs and promote reform,'' said U.S. Department of Education spokeswoman Sandra Abrevaya.
About $814,000 of Easton's stimulus package is expected to come in the form of stabilization dollars, which are specifically targeted to avoid layoffs, said state Department of Education spokesman Mike Race.
The rest of the money comes with some restrictions, but could be used in ways that would preserve jobs, he said.
Guidry, who said previously that the district might use some stimulus money to install energy-efficient doors and windows, said the district doesn't want to tap the stimulus for salaries.
''That stimulus money will be only for the next two years,'' she said. ''After that we would be looking at a larger deficit.''
District officials say their efforts to gain concessions is driven by grim fiscal realities: declining property tax receipts, plunging investment earnings and rising pension costs.
That contrasts with 2007, when the district signed the five-year contract, and experts were still debating whether the slowing economy would turn into a recession in 2008.
The contract's annual raises of 4.9 percent were similar to those in the Parkland and Nazareth Area school districts.
Easton Area School Board ratified the deal by a vote of 6-0, with two abstentions. Board President Patricia Fisher has since said she and her colleagues did not fully understand its costs.
Former business manager Jeffrey Bader predicted at the time that the pact would save the district money through early retirements, but Guidry said the sagging economy has prompted many teachers to put off retiring.
Easton Area teachers are far from the state's highest paid. The average teacher earned $49,422 in the 2006-07 school year – the most recent state Department of Education survey -- ranking 404th out 727 districts in the state. This school year, the average Easton teacher earned $53,644, according to the district.
The district's 2008-09 maximum salary of $70,050 for teachers with a master's degree is higher than 57 percent of districts in the commonwealth, while its starting salary of $41,300 is higher than 76 percent of districts, according to the school boards association.
In Pennsylvania, those wages have come with a measure of job security that's not available in many other states, said Dan Domenech, executive director of the American Association of School Administrators.
Far from being immune to economic stress, financial problems in public education usually lag the national economy by about a year, he said.
''The story I am hearing pretty regularly everywhere I go Â… there's going to be a lot of elimination of positions,'' he said. ''And under the best of circumstances, it is going to be done through attrition.''
Pa. struggles to craft budget
From the Inquirer.
With economic forecasts dire, Pa. struggles to craft budget
By Amy Worden and Angela Couloumbis Posted on Mon, Apr. 27, 2009
Inquirer Harrisburg Bureau
HARRISBURG - With a new state revenue report likely to deliver more bad news this week and a budget deadline looming, legislative leaders are buckling down to craft a spending plan amid a dire economic climate.
If the first quarter is an indication, April revenue figures - usually among the year's strongest because of tax payments - will come in hundreds of millions of dollars below estimate.
So far this year, revenues have lagged nearly 8 percent below estimate, adding to the struggle Gov. Rendell and lawmakers are facing to close a widening shortfall in the state's current budget ahead of the June 30 deadline to enact the new one.
The current shortfall is $2.6 billion, up $300 million from just two months ago.
"I'd say Pennsylvania is pretty typical in the problems that it's encountering, but certainly a lot of states are much worse," said Corina Eckl, fiscal program director for the National Conference of State Legislatures.
The conference last week released a report that found states would have to address a cumulative $281 billion budget gap that would continue to 2011, and likely beyond.
While Pennsylvania's shortfall is still smaller than those of some states, including New Jersey at $3.3 billion, continued slumping revenues might force further cutbacks.
So far, Rendell has avoided drastic measures that other governors, such as California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, have had to take: notably, ordering state employee furloughs and closing state offices.
The Rendell administration and the state's largest public-employee unions reached a tentative agreement earlier this month to avoid furloughs. Under a cost-cutting plan, the state would temporarily reduce its contribution to the fund that administers worker health-care benefits by 20 percent over the next 15 months, at a savings of $200 million.
Meanwhile, Senate and House leaders from both parties have been meeting to reach an agreement for next year's budget despite being split by ideological differences: Democrats say some tax increase will be necessary along with program cuts, while Republicans are adamant about deeper cuts and no additional taxes.
"We think under the Rendell proposal that we can balance the budget for the next four years," said Rep. Dwight Evans (D., Phila.), chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. "We're looking at a $10 billion problem in four years if nothing is done."
In his proposed $29 billion state budget unveiled in early February, Rendell said he wanted to increase spending for education and health care, while proposing limited taxes to cover shortfalls, such as an increase in the cigarette tax and new taxes on smokeless tobacco and gas drilling. He also proposed legalizing video poker as a way to help community college students cover tuition costs.
The governor has not proposed raising broad-based taxes such as income or sales, and wants to cut the rate of the capital stock and franchise tax that businesses pay.
Evans said the final budget would need to use a full menu of funding sources, including roughly $10 billion in federal stimulus dollars expected to flow into Pennsylvania over two years.
While recognizing cuts must be made in many areas, he said, he supports the governor's new investments in education and health care and will fight to preserve them.
"There will have to be compromise," Evans said. "Everything is on the table."
It will have to be to get the support of Republicans who control the Senate.
In an interview last week, Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi (R., Delaware) said his caucus' problem with Rendell's proposed budget was basic but critical: His members do not agree with the spending level the governor is advocating.
Pileggi said his caucus wanted to make sure that the state wasn't unduly relying on the influx of federal stimulus dollars - which will last for only two years - to make ends meet. He said lawmakers needed to "look out at least to a three- or four-year horizon" and make sure that whatever state spending was approved could be sustained even when the federal money ran out.
"The stimulus money presents both a benefit in the short run, but also a trap in the long run if not used properly," Pileggi said. "We could be in a position where, if we think only in the short term, we are faced with the need for a drastic tax increase or the need for a drastic cut in services when the federal stimulus funding expires."
Right now, Pileggi said, "there is no support in our caucus for the spending levels established in the governor's budget proposal." He said his caucus was scouring the budget line by line to come up with "spending levels that are sustainable" and hoped to have that alternative complete in the next three weeks.
"Whether the governor and the [Democratic] leadership in the House are able to accept that product or agree to that remains to be seen," said Pileggi.
Other Republicans opposed to any new taxes have bristled at program cuts to some of their pet programs in agriculture and land conservation.
Rep. Mario Civera (R., Delaware), the ranking Republican on the House Appropriations Committee, said taxes - even limited ones - were not on the table for GOP lawmakers.
"The caucus has no intention of looking at tax increases," said Civera. He said special legislative accounts and the governor's spending lines could be further reduced.
Civera said he intended to make a line-by-line budget and revenue presentation to his caucus in the coming weeks, so lawmakers would understand the reality of the fiscal crisis.
"We're talking about a $3 billion situation here," he said, referring to the state's current budget gap. "This is the worst I've seen it in 30 years in the legislature."
Rendell spokesman Chuck Ardo said the governor was willing to work with legislative leaders to reach an agreement but would not compromise the state's fiscal health just to get a budget completed by July 1.
Since Rendell took office in 2003, no budget has been passed on time.
"The governor remains committed to seeing the commonwealth move forward - and there is no end date for that commitment," Ardo said.
He added: "I think that providing odds on the timing of the budget may be a violation of the gaming law."
With economic forecasts dire, Pa. struggles to craft budget
By Amy Worden and Angela Couloumbis Posted on Mon, Apr. 27, 2009
Inquirer Harrisburg Bureau
HARRISBURG - With a new state revenue report likely to deliver more bad news this week and a budget deadline looming, legislative leaders are buckling down to craft a spending plan amid a dire economic climate.
If the first quarter is an indication, April revenue figures - usually among the year's strongest because of tax payments - will come in hundreds of millions of dollars below estimate.
So far this year, revenues have lagged nearly 8 percent below estimate, adding to the struggle Gov. Rendell and lawmakers are facing to close a widening shortfall in the state's current budget ahead of the June 30 deadline to enact the new one.
The current shortfall is $2.6 billion, up $300 million from just two months ago.
"I'd say Pennsylvania is pretty typical in the problems that it's encountering, but certainly a lot of states are much worse," said Corina Eckl, fiscal program director for the National Conference of State Legislatures.
The conference last week released a report that found states would have to address a cumulative $281 billion budget gap that would continue to 2011, and likely beyond.
While Pennsylvania's shortfall is still smaller than those of some states, including New Jersey at $3.3 billion, continued slumping revenues might force further cutbacks.
So far, Rendell has avoided drastic measures that other governors, such as California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, have had to take: notably, ordering state employee furloughs and closing state offices.
The Rendell administration and the state's largest public-employee unions reached a tentative agreement earlier this month to avoid furloughs. Under a cost-cutting plan, the state would temporarily reduce its contribution to the fund that administers worker health-care benefits by 20 percent over the next 15 months, at a savings of $200 million.
Meanwhile, Senate and House leaders from both parties have been meeting to reach an agreement for next year's budget despite being split by ideological differences: Democrats say some tax increase will be necessary along with program cuts, while Republicans are adamant about deeper cuts and no additional taxes.
"We think under the Rendell proposal that we can balance the budget for the next four years," said Rep. Dwight Evans (D., Phila.), chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. "We're looking at a $10 billion problem in four years if nothing is done."
In his proposed $29 billion state budget unveiled in early February, Rendell said he wanted to increase spending for education and health care, while proposing limited taxes to cover shortfalls, such as an increase in the cigarette tax and new taxes on smokeless tobacco and gas drilling. He also proposed legalizing video poker as a way to help community college students cover tuition costs.
The governor has not proposed raising broad-based taxes such as income or sales, and wants to cut the rate of the capital stock and franchise tax that businesses pay.
Evans said the final budget would need to use a full menu of funding sources, including roughly $10 billion in federal stimulus dollars expected to flow into Pennsylvania over two years.
While recognizing cuts must be made in many areas, he said, he supports the governor's new investments in education and health care and will fight to preserve them.
"There will have to be compromise," Evans said. "Everything is on the table."
It will have to be to get the support of Republicans who control the Senate.
In an interview last week, Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi (R., Delaware) said his caucus' problem with Rendell's proposed budget was basic but critical: His members do not agree with the spending level the governor is advocating.
Pileggi said his caucus wanted to make sure that the state wasn't unduly relying on the influx of federal stimulus dollars - which will last for only two years - to make ends meet. He said lawmakers needed to "look out at least to a three- or four-year horizon" and make sure that whatever state spending was approved could be sustained even when the federal money ran out.
"The stimulus money presents both a benefit in the short run, but also a trap in the long run if not used properly," Pileggi said. "We could be in a position where, if we think only in the short term, we are faced with the need for a drastic tax increase or the need for a drastic cut in services when the federal stimulus funding expires."
Right now, Pileggi said, "there is no support in our caucus for the spending levels established in the governor's budget proposal." He said his caucus was scouring the budget line by line to come up with "spending levels that are sustainable" and hoped to have that alternative complete in the next three weeks.
"Whether the governor and the [Democratic] leadership in the House are able to accept that product or agree to that remains to be seen," said Pileggi.
Other Republicans opposed to any new taxes have bristled at program cuts to some of their pet programs in agriculture and land conservation.
Rep. Mario Civera (R., Delaware), the ranking Republican on the House Appropriations Committee, said taxes - even limited ones - were not on the table for GOP lawmakers.
"The caucus has no intention of looking at tax increases," said Civera. He said special legislative accounts and the governor's spending lines could be further reduced.
Civera said he intended to make a line-by-line budget and revenue presentation to his caucus in the coming weeks, so lawmakers would understand the reality of the fiscal crisis.
"We're talking about a $3 billion situation here," he said, referring to the state's current budget gap. "This is the worst I've seen it in 30 years in the legislature."
Rendell spokesman Chuck Ardo said the governor was willing to work with legislative leaders to reach an agreement but would not compromise the state's fiscal health just to get a budget completed by July 1.
Since Rendell took office in 2003, no budget has been passed on time.
"The governor remains committed to seeing the commonwealth move forward - and there is no end date for that commitment," Ardo said.
He added: "I think that providing odds on the timing of the budget may be a violation of the gaming law."
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