HARRISBURG (AP) – Gov. Josh Shapiro and state lawmakers are getting down to crunch time, with big questions still outstanding about how to balance the Democrat’s spending plan. A push is also on to make PA the 25th state to legalize marijuana for adult use, raise the minimum wage, and slap taxes on slot machine-like “skill” games that are popping up everywhere. Shapiro’s budget proposal holds the line on personal income and sales taxes, the state’s two largest sources of income, but it requires $4.5 billion in reserve cash to balance the budget. PA’s politically divided government has two weeks left to pass a new spending plan before the state loses some spending authority when the new fiscal year starts July 1. Shapiro’s budget proposal holds the line on personal income and sales taxes, but it requires $4.5 billion in reserve cash to balance the budget. Lawmakers describe closed-door talks at a crawl, and many are watching Congress to see if the federal government will cut aid.
