Much to their distress, Pennsylvania legislators will be back in Harrisburg today (Aug. 23) to hear Gov. Rendell pitch them on increasing the gas tax and motor license fees. Rendell is trying to fix a $431-million hole blown into the PennDOT budget by the failure of the feds to allow the state to convert Interstate 80 into a toll road. The legislators are trying to avoid doing anything -- especially if it has the word "tax" tied to it -- before the November election. There is some
talk about this being a bipartisan issue (read: Maybe we can make a deal) and Rendell has been stomping around the state making his case for legislative actions, but the odds are still against anything of substance happening during this special meeting.
