Debate on PA budget expected to open in the House

(Harrisburg) -- Members of the state House are poised to begin the debate over next commonwealth budget.

Even before the House convened today, about 150 members of the Service Employees International Union chanted and clapped at a Capitol rally to protest the Corbett administration's cuts in social services and proposed rollbacks in public pension benefits.

Up for consideration is a $28.3-billion, no-tax-increase plan based largely on what Republican Governor Tom Corbett proposed in February. It would boost funding for public schools by $100 million in the year that starts July 1.

Democrats are pushing for changes that, among other things, would more than triple the increase for schools and ensure Pennsylvania participates in the federal funded Medicaid expansion. They say their proposals would push spending to $28.7 billion.