Smart Talk: PA budget stalemate; Tom Gjelten’s new book on immigration; Counting reindeer

What to look for on Smart Talk Friday, October 9, 2015:

Pennsylvania has gone 100 days now without a state budget in place.  This week, the State House of Representatives, with a Republican majority, rejected Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf’s plan to increase the personal income tax and impose a severance tax on natural drillers.  It is all part of Wolf’s proposal to spend more money on public education and balance the state’s spending plan, which Wolf says Republicans have done with one-time fixes and smoke and mirrors.

Even a handful of Democrats in the House voted against the plan.

So what happens next?

WITF’s Capitol Bureau Chief Mary Wilson provides insight on Smart Talk with her Capitol Week in Review.

The Civil Rights Act of 1965 changed the course of the nation’s history, but even though it doesn’t get cited nearly as much, so did the Immigration Act of 1965.  Tom Gjelten covers issues of religion,

faith, and belief for NPR News.  He has a new book out called A Nation of Nations: A Great American Immigration Story. Gjelten joins us on Smart Talk to discuss immigration.

Finally, Ange and Sheldon Horst of Lancaster ventured above the Arctic Circle earlier this year to count reindeer — all in the name of science.

Hear their fascinating and unique story on Friday’s program.