When Pennsylvania lawmakers return to Harrisburg tomorrow after a historical primary ousted at least 17 incumbents - including the top two Senators - the state budget will probably dominate their time before the summer recess.
But beneath it on the legislators' to-do list will be the business they left behind three weeks ago - statewide property tax reform.
On May 2, a proposal supported by Gov. Ed Rendell passed the Senate, 40-9. But the House tabled a vote on House Bill 39 a day later, saying the measure did not do enough to give the property owners a break. By Rendell's own estimate, it would have saved the average homeowner $200, but increased taxes on working renters.
Opponents of the measure are already calling for that bill to be killed for varying reasons. Some want a new bill written that eliminates school property taxes as the chief source of revenue for the state's 501 districts.
The Council Rock School Board isn't one of those. Its school directors, who operate one of the richest districts in the state, decried the last attempt at reform Thursday saying it unfairly limited their spending, even as they passed a $153 property tax increase.
Read more about in my Daily Rant.
