Pa. budget due - don't hold your breath

HARRISBURG - Year after year, the headlines have been the same: Gov. Rendell, legislature at impasse, miss budget deadline. With seven days left to pass a spending plan for the next fiscal year on time, lawmakers and the administration appear to be heading toward another showdown. There are disagreements over key issues, including the very fundamental question of how much money the state will have to spend as the economy continues its downward spiral.

Whether the two sides can break with recent tradition and agree on a budget by Monday's constitutional deadline remains uncertain. As Sen. Vincent J. Fumo (D., Phila.) put it yesterday: "I personally think it's possible to get a budget done on time, but . . . it's not soup yet." Since Rendell became governor in 2003, no budget has been passed on time, in large part because of disagreements over core political philosophy. Each year, Rendell ...