No new taxes in this year's budget

[TheGerbil]

http://post-gazette.com/pg/07191/800605-85.stm

To be honest I'm not happy about this. I think at least some of the proposed taxes were reasonable and served a good purpose. The electricity tax would have apparently been pretty small from the consumer's point of view (I think I heard it would work out to about $5 a year on average) and would have been used for energy conservation and production of alternative fuels. The tax on businesses that don't offer health insurance was a step toward insuring everyone in the state, which I think is an excellent goal. But none of these things made it through. I guess the people who voted against it don't give a crap about all the people who don't have access to health care. Blah.

The good news is the state is back in business today, with all the workers who were told to stay home yesterday returning to work today. Also, the budget includes some extra money for public transit, and the plan for the new arena was approved.

[GeneW]

So what finally happened with transit funding? Is PAT getting any more or will they have to go through with the 10% further cuts that they are threatening for the Fall?

[TheGerbil]

Well the article didn't go into details but it mentioned "extra" money for PAT. So hopefully that will mean they don't have to make additional cuts.

Edit: Here is an update... http://post-gazette.com/pg/07191/800633-100.stm