Late Tuesday afternoon the State Senate passed the $27.15 billion budget with a 30-20 vote. The budget, after a party-line vote, now heads to the House. The new budget proposes no tax increases and softens some of Governor Corbett’s earlier cuts.

At a fundraiser tonight in Wilkes-Barre, Murphy will be joined by Congressman Paul Kanjorski, Wilkes-Barre Mayor Tom Leighton, and State Representatives Michael Carroll, Phyllis Mundy and Eddie Day Pashinski.

State Rep. DePasquale’s nascent bid for Auditor General is finding support in western PA. Several of his House colleagues and other Allegheny County politicos will co-host a fundraiser for the York lawmaker (and Pittsburgh native).

Today Governor Corbett delivered one of his campaign promises by signing the Fair Share Act, making Pennsylvania the next state to adopt comprehensive tort reform.

Marcellus shale gas drilling advocates have wielded the ultimate trump card in every debate: jobs. Now, as lawmakers prepare to debate a possible fee or tax, a left-leaning think tank is looking for chinks in the armor.

With one major deadline already looming this week, Governor Tom Corbett and his wife Susan on Monday etched another significant date onto the public calendar.