Pennsylvania Governor Rescinds Furloughs

After 10 days at a budget impasse, Pennsylvania legislators are finally able to reach an agreement. At approximately 11 p.m., Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell officially announced that as of 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday, July 10, the furloughs on state workers would be rescinded after being in effect for only one day.

Governor Rendell explained the budget talks consist of five parties, the four legislative caucuses and himself, which means that inevitably, there will be both victories and defeats; however, the governor assured the Commonwealth that they have reached "an agreement where all sides can say they achieved some of their goals."

"All the caucuses, when we got down to work and had to get this done, did a good job," the governor stated. Through this agreement, all of the budget priorites were achieved.

These priorities include money set aside for full day kindergarten, laptop computers for high schools, a reduction on the mental health and retardation waiting list, and the expansion of child care programs among others. Although the governor mentioned that there were cuts made to the original budget proposal, there was no word on exactly what these cuts were.

One of the main focuses of this budget impasse was the transportation proposal, but the legislature was able to pass something which Governor Rendell terms a "historic transportation agreement."

This agreement includes the "most significant amount of money devoted to transportation needs in this commonwealth in the history of the commonwealth." A large portion of the transportation budget has been reserved to meet the needs of "virtually every one of [the] thirty-eight (38) mass transit authorities," including specifically Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Altoona, and State College.

Transportation needs as a whole will receive an average of $946 million over the next ten years, while mass transit itself will receive an average of $414 million. Governor Rendell hopes that this amount will allow the mass transit authorities to be in good standing for fifteen (15) to twenty (20) years.

Another issue discussed within the budget talks was energy. At least two bills were introduced into the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, one to pay for alternative and renewable energy initiatives and another devoted to a solar energy requirement.

The budget also includes more rebate initiative to Pennsylvanians who, among other things, install solar panels in their homes. The governor then announced that on 19 September, a special congressional session on energy will occur.

To offer some reassurance to the thousands of furloughed state workers and all Pennsylvania residents, Governor Rendell stated that in the coming days, talks to discuss available options to possibly lessen the impact of Monday's furlough would continue, with updates to be announced at a further date.

Information for this article seen on live broadcast from Governor Rendell.