Gov.+Tom+Corbett+links+state+budget+to+school+tax+decisions

=Published by the Associated Press= =6/28/11= = = = = =Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett said today that passage of a bill to limit the ability of school boards to raise property taxes was "crucial" to [|the state budget] under consideration in the Legislature.= =Corbett's rare public comments about the budget, made during a news conference in the Capitol Rotunda, came hours before the state Senate was expected to approve a $27.15 billion spending plan for the fiscal year starting Friday.= =[|The budget bill], agreed to by Corbett and his fellow Republicans who control both chambers of the Legislature, still requires a vote in the House before it can go Corbett's desk.= = = ="Until there is a budget, until I get the opportunity to sign one, there is no budget, we understand that," Corbett said. "This process does not just include the numbers. It requires other laws that will make the budget work."= =Corbett said taxpayers deserved to see action on a bill that would eliminate exceptions that allow school boards to get around a state law that gives voters the right to veto or approve school property tax increases above the rate of inflation. The 2006 Taxpayer Relief Act included the referendum language, but in a state with 500 school districts, just 14 such votes have been held, and 13 failed.= =He also said his staff has been working behind the scenes on a proposal to make it easier for parents to take their children out of the public schools they currently attend and send them to private or other public schools. "We'd like to see this bill passed before we adjourn for the summer," he told reporters, shortly after signing a bill that changed how liability is apportioned in civil negligence lawsuits.= =The budget would reduce state spending by about 3 percent, thanks largely to more than $1.1 billion in cuts in aid to public schools and 18 state-supported universities, as Republicans look to avoid raising taxes while coping with a fall-off in state tax revenues and the disappearance of temporary federal budget aid.= =The budget would tap $50 million from the Legislature's reserve fund. It also would lower business taxes and keep about $500 million in reserve — elements that Democrats say are forcing universities to raise tuition and school boards to lay off thousands of employees and raise taxes.= =The governor also took aim at [|Democratic votes late Monday that have stalled funding for several universities], including Penn State, Temple and Pitt. "This is not the time to play chicken with the future of our students and our families," Corbett said. "Democrats will have to answer to the people of Pennsylvania" unless something changes in the coming days, he added.=

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