THE FISCAL CLIFF: Fresh off a meeting of the National Governors Association, where the combination of mandatory spending cuts and tax increases was a topic of discussion, Corbett said he finds the prospect “frightening,” because it means the potential loss of hundreds of billions of dollars in federal support as he and his staff draw up a budget for FY 13-14. The mandatory tax increases included in the budget-balanciing act could trigger another recession, he warned.
MEDICAID EXPANSION: Corbett spun out three scenarios for the expansion of coverage mandated in the federal healthcare act: No expansion; limited expansion (100 percent of federal poverty level) and total expansion (coverage to 130 percent of poverty). If everyone eligible for coverage sought it, it would cost the state $134 million in FY 13-14. A limited expansion would cost $178 million and full expansion would run to almost $222 million in the next budget year, growing to $4.7 billion by 2021, he warned. Social service and Medicaid spending comprises about 39 percent of the current budget.
Read more of the topics he covered here.