It looks as if Pennsylvania won't have a $850 million hole in its budget after all. The U.S. Senate
passed a bill Wednesday (August 4) to provide an additional $26 billion in federal stimulus aid to the states. The bill still must pass the House, but that is expected to happen next week. Pennsylvania's share will be $600 million, which is $250 million short of what Gov. Rendell wanted. That is likely to mean more cuts in the state budget and in local aid, but not to the level where thousands of government employees would be laid off, which was the scenario if the federal money had not come.
