State budget hearings begin this week in Harrisburg and both State Representative Jim Struzzi and Senator Joe Pittman have signaled that it could be the start of a difficult process.
Governor Josh Shapiro has proposed a $48.34 billion budget, a plan that Struzzi characterizes as “long on spending and short on details”, and Pittman says “would make it virtually impossible to balance future budgets without deep spending cuts AND massive tax increases within the next five-year planning period.”
The hearings before the House and Senate Appropriations Committees begin on Tuesday. The House schedule kicks off with the Department of Community and Economic Development in the morning session and the Department of Revenue in the afternoon. The Senate committee will begin with the Independent Fiscal Office and Department of Corrections and state Parole Board.
Both committee chambers will take testimony from the State System of Higher Education on Wednesday, the Senate in the morning and the House in the afternoon.
