Pennsylvania’s budget fight will come with its own price tag - Marc Levy, The Associated Press

Pennsylvania state government’s projected $2.2 billion deficit, and a protracted fight over how to fix it, will come with its own special price tag. The final cost is a moving target, and whether or how the fight will end remains unclear, now nearly four months into the state’s fiscal year. But the state stands to shell out hundreds of millions of dollars in the coming years, considering the prospect of long-term borrowing to finance the deficit, compounded by a credit downgrade last month. “That’s almost undeniable when you’ve got the downgrade and the borrowing,” said Auditor General Eugene DePasquale, a Democrat who is the state’s independently elected fiscal watchdog. “And regardless of the merits of any of the proposals, there’s extra costs that wouldn’t exist if you had a balanced budget passed.” http://www.poconorecord.com/news/20171021/pennsylvanias-budget-fight-will-come-with-its-own-price-taghttp://www.poconorecord.com/news/20171021/pennsylvanias-budget-fight-will-come-with-its-own-price-tag