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Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Morning Money: Budget Round-up

Welcome to Morning Money. "Snowmageddon" has officially been upgraded to "Snowpocalypse." There's still important news to report, though: Gov. Rendell’s $29 billion budget proposal. We have reactions from:

* Daily News columnist John Baer, who is skeptical that the Legislature will look seriously at Rendell’s sales tax proposal.

* Marcellus shale drillers, lawyers, morticians and other professionals, whose services would now be subject to the state sales tax. (You can read a Post-Gazette article collecting their thoughts here and a Patriot-News article here).

* Education advocates happy that Rendell is proposing increasing education spending by $354 million.

* An analyst at the conservative Commonwealth Foundation, skeptical about Rendell’s claim that waste represents a small part of the state budget.

* And Sharon Ward, director of the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center, who lauds the governor for a forward-looking fiscal strategy.

In New Jersey budget news, a Republican state lawmaker told the Inquirer that Gov. Christie will target school aid as part of the $1.2 billion he has pledged to cut from the budget.

Finally, some Harrisurghers are criticizing Mayor Linda Thompson for spending city money on renovating her office when the city is at risk of defaulting on its debt. Thompson says that the office was in disarray and needed the work.

Follow us on Twitter and review city services on our sister site, City Howl.
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About It's Our Money
Every year, city government spends slightly more than $4 billion. Where does all that money come from? More importantly, where does it go? Are we getting the most bang for our tax buck? “It's Our Money” is a joint project between Philadelphia Daily News and WHYY, funded by the William Penn Foundation, designed to answer these questions.




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