Gov. Tom Corbett acknowledged Tuesday that Pennsylvania’s budget situation is not pretty but insisted he will not listen to arguments for a tax increase until lawmakers pass major legislation slashing public employee pension costs.  A tax increase is looking increasingly likely as lawmakers eye a state budget for the soon-to-start fiscal year. The alternative — cutting programs, tapping politically sensitive grant programs or forgoing more aid for public schools and human services programs — would be a challenge to pass, said Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi.  Corbett and Pileggi spoke against the backdrop of closed-door negotiations on Corbett’s $29.4 billion budget plan for the fiscal year that begins July 1. Stumbling tax collections and risky assumptions, however, have blown a nearly $2 billion hole in that plan.

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Source: The Associated Press, by Marc Levy, Posted June 17, 2014.