State budget drama resumes

As the primary fades, the eyes of the Pennsylvania political world now shift to Harrisburg, where another contentious and likely long budget battle awaits.

The state faces a revenue shortfall already surpassing $1 billion (sound familiar?), and Governor Ed Rendell and Senate Republicans are (surprise surprise) positioning themselves on opposite sides of a debate over taxes and spending. It won’t be as bad as last year’s mid-October fiasco, but nobody connected to state government should make any Fourth of July plans, either.

The political repercussions of this year’s budget stand-off will no doubt rock November’s elections, but here’s one question we’ll ask at the start: How much will gubernatorial candidates impact negotiations? Republican nominee for governor Tom Corbett said last week that he might, if the situation is right, weigh in on the talks in the Capitol this summer.

His words, not to mention Democratic nominee Dan Onorato’s, could carry more weight than anyone outside of Rendell’s and alter the course of budget battle (not to mention the campaign’s future).

Sestak still pressed on WH job offer

The Senate race to replace Arlen Specter, of course, won’t be far from the minds of the state’s politicos from now until the election. The increasingly pressing question, however, is whether Democratic nominee Joe Sestak can avoid more questions about an alleged White House job offer he received last year he says was meant to divert him from taking on Specter. (He certainly wasn’t Sunday on “Meet the Press.”)

The issue, sparked by seemingly accidental remarks Sestak made several months ago, has been a thorn in the side of the White House and Sestak, who has repeatedly declined to talk any further about the alleged deal. His non-answers might not be good enough anymore for reporters bent on getting to the bottom of a story that has refused to die.

How this story develops will surely affect the way that the Toomey campaign will position itself throughout the election.  Though Specter’s poking and prodding at Sestak didn’t take with voters in the primary, Toomey might have more success if the media in Pa. and Washington refuse to give up on this one.

And, in case we needed a nickname for this storyline, state GOP Chairman Rob Gleason gave us one today – “Jobgate.”

7th District sparks

7th district rivals Bryan Lentz (D) and Pat Meehan (R) traded jabs through press releases last week, setting the stage for a series of debates in the Delaware County-based district.  Lentz opened the spat  with a vow to debate Meehan “anytime, any place, anywhere,” and Meehan responded by proposing a series of ten debates. Though the 7th district has been overshadowed by the primary intrigue in the neighboring  6th district and several statewide races, this one will begin to take shape soon rather than later.

Democratic LG primary

“Six days after all the votes have been cast in the primary, the race between Democratic lieutenant governor candidates Jonathan Saidel and state Rep. Scott Conklin appears headed for a recount,” PoliticsPA’s Alex Roarty reports.

“Recounts are triggered when the difference between the two candidates is less than one-half of 1 percent, which would be the case between Saidel and Conklin. The DOS secretary must decide whether to order a recount by Thursday 5 p.m., but only after asking the defeated candidate whether he or she wants to continue with one. If the candidate declines, the state does not undertake a recount.”

In Congress

Freshman Rep. Kathy Dahlkemper (D-3) was in the WaPo today, discussing a bipartisan movement to cut (or, at least, kind of try to control) government spending.  “It’s time to start paying for things,” said Rep. Kathy Dahlkemper (D-Pa.), a freshman who voted for last year’s economic stimulus bill but said she is likely to oppose the next spending package, scheduled to hit the House floor Tuesday. “We’ve done some good things, but one of the best things we could do right now is get control of our fiscal house.”

Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-8) has led the charge within Congress to repeal the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy for over a year, and the controversial policy will be under the spotlight this week.  Murphy (along with a dozen retired military leaders) sent an open letter to Congress and the White House today, again urging them to repeal the policy. Politico’s Jen DiMascio reported this morning that talks at the White House with “Congressional leaders, gay rights advocates and Pentagon officials” to discuss the ban was under way at 10:30 this morning.

Financial Regulation legislation is the hot topic in Washington, meaning veteran Rep. Paul Kanjorski (D-11) will be a busy, busy man.  Kanjorski chairs the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government Sponsored Enterprises, and penned roughly half of the provisions in the House version of the reform bill.