NEWS FLASH: Pa. Legislature sends $27.8B budget to Rendell

It took 101 days into the new fiscal year, but the country's most expensive state legislatures has finally agreed on a budget for 2009-10.

From Marc Levy of The Associated Press:

A $27.8 billion state budget was on its way to the desk of Gov. Ed Rendell following a lopsided vote of approval from the Senate — a giant step toward ending Pennsylvania's 101-day budget stalemate, the nation's longest this year.

The 42-7 Senate's vote followed House approval on Wednesday.

The Senate voted without debate moments after signing off on a companion bill to tap more than $1.5 billion from the state's reserves. That bill still awaited House approval.

Rendell has said he would sign the appropriations bill, but it was unclear whether he would do so before the House passes the companion bill.

The appropriations bill cuts overall spending by more than 1 percent, while boosting spending on operations and instruction in public schools by $300 million, or 5.7 percent, a level that Rendell insisted upon.

The politically divided Legislature has been stymied by how to resolve a multibillion-dollar, recession-driven shortfall.

The final agreement relies on a blend of federal budget aid, transfer from reserve funds, spending cuts and nearly $500 million in new taxes on sales of cigarettes, little cigars and businesses that pay the capital stock and franchise tax.

The plan also relies on legalizing and taxing table games at the state's slot-machine casinos and leasing more state forest land to natural gas exploration companies.