Markosek+says+State+Will+Get+1+Billion+More+Than+Expected

=By Patrick Cloonan= =//Published in the McKeesport Daily News//= =//5/4/11//= = = = = =An area state lawmaker said Pennsylvania will get $1 billion more in revenue than anticipated in Gov. Tom Corbett's budget proposal.= =As a result, House Appropriations Minority Chairman Joseph F. Markosek, D-Monroeville, said Corbett should reduce proposed education cuts and restore the adultBasic health insurance program.= =A spokesman for the governor said Tuesday, however, that while the report of new revenue growth is encouraging, "now is not the time to go back to bad spending habits."= =Markosek said revenue through April exceeded the state's official estimate by $506 million. Given that such revenue will be carried forward into the base for the 2011-12 estimate, Markosek said that means additional revenue available is in excess of $1 billion.= ="The governor has an opportunity to offset some of the draconian cuts in his proposed budget without increasing taxes by simply using the additional funds available," Markosek said.= =In Jefferson Hills last month, Corbett said he would not approve any increase in his $27.3 billion spending plan.= ="What the governor has said is that the tax-and-spend mentality is what got us in trouble in the first place," Corbett spokesman Eric Shirk said. "We have to have a healthy dose of prudence. Caution is still warranted."= =Markosek's statement coincided with continued protests of Corbett's plan to cut education subsidies to 2008-09 levels. On Thursday, an afternoon protest is slated at the McKeesport Family Center, to be followed at 6:15 p.m. by a rally at the Renziehausen Park band shell.= = State Reps. Marc J. Gergely, D-White Oak, Bill Kortz, D-Dravosburg, and Harry Readshaw, D-Carrick, will host a town hall meeting on the budget Thursday at 7 at the McKeesport Area High School auditorium. = =In his Monday statement, Markosek said House Democrats cannot support any proposal that balances the budget by merely shifting Corbett's cuts. Shirk said Pennsylvania still faces difficult times in 2011-12 and the years ahead.= = = = Read more: [|Markosek says state will get $1 billion more than expected - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review] [] = = =

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