PA Budget Craziness

Alright, I'm still trying to figure out what the Pennsylvania House Democrats did to the state budget proposal today in the Appropriations Committee. But here's the basics:

They took HB 1416, which was the Governor's original budget proposal, (click here for the spreadsheet that includes the Rendell budget and SB 850) and offered an amendment no one has seen and isn't available online, but basically:

• Make many of the changes Rendell had asked for with his modifications, but not all, to the original budget proposal.
• Eliminates all funding for higher education ($1.2 billion last year), with promises to fund that in a separate bill with new taxes that are yet to be determined. This would probably be the PIT increase, which Rendell said would be temporary, so higher education funding would be eliminated in three years.
• Spends $27.8 billion.

They then sent SB 850, the version of the budget passed by the Pennsylvania Senate in May, to the full House without amendment, but did give it a "negative recommendation"

Here is my reaction, re-enacted by Peter Griffin.