HARRISBURG — The debate over a $27.66 billion state budget for 2012-13 went into its final furlong Friday as the state Senate gave its approval to the spending plan and lawmakers moved key pieces of supporting legislation into place to meet a midnight Saturday deadline.
The Republican-controlled chamber voted 32-17 along party lines to approve the fiscal document, which provides state colleges and universities, public schools and libraries with the same amount of money they currently receive but ends a program that provided direct cash assistance to nearly 70,000 of the state’s neediest citizens. >>Read more…