Fresh Produce Discussion Blog

Created by The Packer's National Editor Tom Karst

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

First lady's White House garden

http://www.omaha.com/article/20100504/LIVING/705049961

First lady's White House garden


WASHINGTON -- A patch of ground in a sunny corner of a lawn at the nation's most famous residential address is growing into an internationally famous test plot for showing how simple it is to produce tasty, nutritious and healthful meals with seeds, dirt, sunshine and water.

Of course, this is not a typical urban garden. It's first lady Michelle Obama's kitchen garden at the White House.

Spread across 1,500 square feet in the South Lawn and within view of pedestrians outside the fence, neat rows of broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, chard, collard greens, lettuce, mustard greens, peas, spinach and other spring crops are marked by slate signs.

Weeds don't sink deep roots. White House volunteers who shed suits for jeans weed and hand-water the plants when it doesn't rain.
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It's not just a showpiece. Something from the garden ends up in meals prepared for President Barack Obama and his family every night, said Sam Kass, the assistant White House chef who oversees the garden.

“Fruits and vegetables are a key part of every meal,” Kass said. “We never serve a meal without vegetables on the plate.''

The point of the garden, however, is not that people need an 18-acre fenced estate or a professional chef to take control of their diets and grow some of their own food. Anyone can do it on any scale, Kass said.

Now in its second spring, the White House garden has been planted and harvested with the help of local schoolchildren, some of whom were not shy about expressing their dislike for peas or salads, Kass said.

But after helping harvest and create a meal featuring chicken and peas, brown rice and salad, “I've never seen kids go after peas and lettuce with such vigor,'' Kass said.

In the end, last year's 1,100-square-foot garden produced 55 kinds of fruits and vegetables and 1,008 pounds of food. About a third of it went to a nearby soup kitchen. Garden herbs are used for seasoning state dinners.

Honey from a beehive -- a White House first -- sweetens cupcakes and vinaigrette salad dressing. The hive is tended by a White House carpenter. It produced 134 pounds of honey last year.

“For the kids, it's a powerful educational moment,'' Kass said. “We talk about the cycle of the garden. What the bees do. How they pollinate. ... It makes connections with what they hear in classes, and it starts to become very real.''

The garden buzz grew global at the president's first Group of 20 conference in London last spring, Kass said. All anybody wanted to talk about to the first lady was the garden and Bo, the family dog.

A cover photograph on a Russian weekly politics and culture magazine featured the first lady working in the White House garden under the headline, “Queen of the Fields,'' during the Obamas' visit to Moscow last summer.

Embassies are building gardens. People call the White House seeking information on how to replicate the garden. (Plans are on the White House website.)

“It's actually been astounding about how many people are using this as a model,'' Kass said.

At its roots, the garden is part of the first lady's pitch for healthful eating.

“That was our hope, but I think it exceeded expectations,'' Kass said.

The garden yields produce year round. Plastic-covered hoop houses were set up to collect heat from the winter sun. In early March, Kass picked about 50 pounds of arugula, carrots, lettuce, spinach and turnips grown inside the mini-greenhouses during the district's historic snowy winter.

Kass gained 400 square feet of garden ground this spring. He grows rhubarb in raised bed plots. Later plantings this season will include artichokes, beans, corn, leeks, melons, pumpkins and tomatoes. Kass said he might try pickling cucumbers and beans.

Last year's pumpkins were planted too late and failed.

“We'll get pumpkins right this year,'' Kass said.

There are no plans to sprinkle the fruits and vegetables with bureaucracy or bundle them with red tape by trying to certify the garden as organic. But the White House uses only natural, not synthetic, fertilizers and pesticides. The soil was enhanced with compost, sand, potash and crab meal.

More important than the organic label, Kass said, is educating and inspiring people to eat healthfully.

It requires all styles of growing food from small gardens to large-scale production agriculture to feed the nation, Kass said. And no food is bad, he said.

“The idea is eat healthy ... but if you want to go have a pizza or eat burgers once in a while, that's great,'' Kass said. “What the first lady says is that if that's all you eat, then we have a problem. Kids' health starts to break down.''

Kass said he relishes coming to the garden to see what looks good for building a meal.

“Cooking with peas in spring is great. Tomatoes in July and August is fine. And spinach, broccoli and squash whatever,'' he said. “That's the beauty of food.''

Contact the writer:

444-1127, david.hendee@owh.co

U of I: Atrazine ban would hurt Midwest sweet corn producers

U of I: Atrazine ban would hurt Midwest sweet corn producers
Monday, May 03, 2010

Life without atrazine would complicate weed management in corn, especially for sweet corn growers. A study at the University of Illinois looked at 175 sweet corn fields in the Midwest to find out just how important this 50-year-old, broad-spectrum herbicide is in sweet corn grown for processing.

"If the use of atrazine was phased out completely, our data indicate the greatest burden would be on those growers who rely on less tillage for weed control, have particularly weedy fields, have early season crop production, and grow sweet corn in rotation with other vegetables such as snap or lima beans," said U of I and USDA Agricultural Research Service ecologist Marty Williams. "Vegetable crops have fewer herbicide options and there tends to be poorer levels of weed control in those crops. When more weeds escape, more weed seed are produced, and crops succeeding those vegetables can have challenging weed problems."

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency completed re-registration of atrazine in 2006, but due to controversy over human health and environmental safety concerns, launched a special review and re-evaluation of atrazine last November. Registered use rates have been in decline for several decades, and atrazine use is increasingly being scrutinized at state and federal levels.

Atrazine use in field corn dominates the debate; sweet corn represents only about 1 percent of total corn acres being treated with atrazine. But because atrazine may be far more important in sweet corn production, Williams wanted to assess how atrazine is currently being used by sweet corn growers, and how an EPA ban on atrazine might affect them.

Component In Broccoli Inhibits Breast Cancer Stem Cells In Mice

Component In Broccoli Inhibits Breast Cancer Stem Cells In Mice
by T Goodman

Researchers at the University of Michigan (U-M) have found that a compound derived from broccoli may help prevent or treat breast cancer
by targeting breast cancer stem cells - those cells that fuel a tumor's growth.

Members of U-M Comprehensive Cancer Center and the College of Pharmacy studied the effects of on breast cancer stem cells in mice. Having established the number of cancer stem cells in the the individual tumors, the scientists first experimented by injecting varying amount of sulforaphane into the mice tumors.

The U-M researchers observed that the number of cancer stem cells in the mouse tumors markedly decreased with no impact on the normal cells. Additionally, they found that the cancer cells of sulforaphane-treated mice did not generate new tumors.

Though no clinical studies have been conducted on breast cancers in women, the researchers did test the sulforaphane on human breast cancer cells in the lab, and found similar decreases in the cancer stem cells.

“This research suggests a potential new treatment that could be combined with other compounds to target breast cancer stem cells. Developing treatments that effectively target the cancer stem cell population is essential for improving outcomes,” says study author Max S. Wicha, M.D., Distinguished Professor of Oncology and director of the U-M Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Though sulforaphane is available in capsule form as food supplements and, of course, broccoli and brocco-sprouts contain fairly high concentrations of sulforaphane, the concentrations of sulforaphane used in these studies were much higher than can be eaten.

The U-M team will continue their research by developing a sulforaphane extract to test as a prevention and treatment for breast cancer in human clinical trials
.

The researchers advise against taking the sulforaphane supplements because they say that concentrations are unregulated. But hey, it can't hurt to eat a lot of broccoli!

Farm bill hearing held in Wyoming

House Agriculture Committee Holds Farm Bill Field Hearing in Cheyenne, Wyoming
CHEYENNE, WYO. - Today, House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin C. Peterson held a field hearing in Cheyenne, Wyoming to review U.S. agriculture policy as the Committee begins the process of writing the 2012 Farm Bill. This is the fourth in a series of hearings scheduled across the country to consider new ideas regarding Federal food and farm policy. Eight Members of Congress attended today's hearing and heard testimony from eight witnesses on a variety of farm policy issues.
"Farmers and ranchers in Wyoming have been making a living off the land for generations, and the experience and toughness that comes from that kind of history represents the best of what American agriculture can accomplish," Chairman Peterson said. "I am impressed by the ideas and innovations that we heard here in Wyoming, and we will use what we have learned as we move forward with writing the next Farm Bill."
According to U.S Department of Agriculture statistics, Wyoming ranks fourth in the U.S. for sheep and lamb production and ranks eighth among barley growing states. More than one million acres of land in Wyoming are enrolled in USDA conservation programs.
"While I get to hear from my own producers every time I step into the coffee shop or the feed store, or host town hall meetings across my district in Oklahoma, it is vitally important to hear from producers all over the country who grow and raise a wide range of products," said Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Frank Lucas of Oklahoma. "These field hearings will provide the Agriculture Committee with perspective and insight as we move forward with reauthorizing the farm bill."
About 100 members of the community attended the hearing, including local agriculture producers and leaders. House Agriculture Committee Members attending the hearing included: Chairman Peterson, Ranking Member Lucas, Congressman Dennis Cardoza of California, who serves as Chairman of the Agriculture Committee's Subcommittee on Horticulture and Organic Agriculture, Congresswoman Betsy Markey of Colorado, Congressman K. Michael Conaway of Texas who serves as the Ranking Member of the Agriculture Committee's Subcommittee on Rural Development, Biotechnology, Specialty Crops and Foreign Agriculture, Congressman Jeff Fortenberry who serves as the Ranking Member of the Agriculture Committee's Subcommittee on Department Operations, Oversight, Nutrition, and Forestry, Congressman Adrian Smith of Nebraska, and Congresswoman Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming.
"As a rancher, and the first Wyoming Representative to serve on the House Agriculture Committee since 1941, I am pleased the committee chose Cheyenne for its hearing to address the devastation to our forests caused by the bark beetle, and help shape the upcoming farm bill," Congresswoman Lummis said. "Input from Wyoming's farmers, producers and forest managers has been absolutely essential. It's necessary for these Members of Congress to get a firsthand understanding of the challenges Wyoming faces. I'm grateful people in Wyoming shared their expertise on these complex issues."
"As we prepare to craft the next farm bill, it is critically important that we hear directly from the farmers and ranchers who work every day to provide our country with a safe and secure food supply," Congresswoman Markey said. "Bringing the farm bill to the people it serves will make it more efficient and more effective, and I'll continue working hard to keep Colorado agriculture strong."
"Our nation faces unprecedented economic challenges, and rural communities across the country offer innovative solutions. We should be working to create policies which will strengthen American agriculture and provide long-term stability for our nation's producers, and to promote economic policies which will foster sustained growth in rural communities," Congressman Smith said. "The rural way of life is forever changing, and I believe we have a good story to tell."
Written testimony provided by the witnesses is available on the Committee website: http://agriculture.house.gov/hearings/index.html.A full transcript of the hearing will be posted on the Committee website at a later date.
To receive updated schedule and news information from the House Agriculture, please visit the House Committee on Agriculture website to sign up for email updates: http://agriculture.house.gov/Eupdates/updates.html.
Witness List
Panel I. Mr. Bill Crapser, Wyoming State Forester, Cheyenne, Wyoming . Mr. Rick Cables, Regional Forester, Region 2, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Golden, Colorado o Accompanied by: Mr. Phil Cruz, Deputy Forest Supervisor, Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Laramie, Wyoming . Ms. Nancy Fishering, forest products producer, Montrose, Colorado
Panel II. Mr. Jerry Cooksey, wheat producer, Roggen, Colorado . Mr. Ogden Driskill, cattle and buffalo producer, Devil's Tower, Wyoming . Mr. Les Hardesty, dairy producer, Greeley, Colorado . Mr. John Snyder, Jr., sugarbeet producer, Worland, Wyoming . Mr. Dennis Sun, cattle producer, Casper, Wyoming
###
The U.S. House Committee on Agriculture web site http://agriculture.house.gov has additional information on this and other subjects.
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The government and the food safety act

http://townhall.com/columnists/JeffStier/2010/05/03/the_government_and_the_food_safety_modernization_act
Jeff Stier :: Townhall.com
Columnist
The Government and the Food Safety Modernization Act
by Jeff Stier
We have the safest food supply in the world today - it has actually never been safer. But there is always room for improvement. After more than a year of deliberation and negotiation, the Senate is poised this week to pass The Food Safety Modernization Act. The legislation enjoys the rare distinction of having broad bipartisan support. But the bill is at risk of being derailed by a misguided and unnecessary amendment to ban something that does not pose a real threat: bisphenol A (BPA).
The Ban Poisonous Additives Act, sponsored by Sens. Schumer (D NY) and Feinstein (D CA), would bar the use of BPA, a key component used to make epoxy resins and polycarbonate plastic, in food and beverage containers. When asked why she proposed this amendment, Sen. Feinstein made simplistic statement: "I feel very strongly that the government should protect people from harmful chemicals."
The recent target of radical environmental activists and ratings- seeking media alarmists, BPA has been accused of being associated with an assortment of adverse health effects, none of which are supported by acceptable scientific evidence or have been validated by FDA. BPA critics have called the widely-used chemical the "biological equivalent of global warming," and claims of its health effects run the gamut from autism to cancer to genital and reproductive abnormalities.
Not to be outdone by the global warming alarmists, the anti-industry BPA fear mongers continue to propound flimsy "evidence" unsupported by any reputable scientific body.
No fewer than 11 global regulatory agencies, including FDA, have examined the science and concluded that BPA is not a risk to human health. In its statement (released in January 2010), FDA concluded that BPA "is not proven to harm children or adults..." This is consistent with FDA's 2008 finding, which was updated at the insistence of politicians and activists at a great cost to taxpayers. If this overly precautionary FDA believed, after two thorough reviews, that BPA posed a harm to anyone, they would not have left it on the market. The science has spoken again and again, yet these anti-BPA activists posing as scientists continue to use scare tactics and ignore decades of convincing scientific research to waste money and frighten Americans into echoing their ideology.
And now after all the reviews, Senators Schumer and Feinstein think they know better than the scientists. Eager to earn points with their base, they are ignoring the science and the experts at FDA so they can make political hay based on the fears of their frightened constituents. This politically-fueled amendment is doing more than threatening the food-safety bill and the U.S. regulatory system's reliance on science-based decision making; it is threatening the economy and public health.
Banning BPA would be financially devastating to an already challenged economy. This unfounded ban could shutter canneries and other manufacturing facilities, putting many thousands out of work. Banning the use of BPA in the canning process would raise the cost for many products, severely harming the food and beverage manufacturing industry, and increasing the cost of canned food and drinks for everyone.
This bill also ignores the fact that there is no practical, safe, and affordable alternative for BPA in many products. Prior to the use of can liners made with BPA, packaged food contamination, including botulism, was a serious public health problem. Banning BPA would jeopardize food safety and public health in general - ironically, the exact thing the Food Safety Modernization Act is meant to protect.
Once again, busy-body government officials are trying to interfere with the daily life of Americans, and by doing so, threatening to aggrandize federal agencies' power and reduce consumer choice while increasing consumer costs. It's bad enough when environmental alarmists and media presume to know better than science, but it's downright frightening when legislators buy into their propaganda.

Research shows small amount of land could supply fruit and vegetables

http://www.radioiowa.com/2010/05/03/research-shows-small-amount-of-land-could-supply-fruit-and-vegetables/


by Matt Kelley on May 3, 2010

in Agriculture

Researchers at Iowa State University say converting a small amount of cropland to fruit and vegetable production could supply a significant portion of our region’s produce needs. The study by the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture found growing roughly one-third of the region’s fresh produce locally would require about the amount of cropland in an average county in Iowa — or less.

Research scientist David Swenson says there’s growing interest in local food production, but it’s unclear whether local producers can satisfy consumers. Swenson says, “Our average consumer has gotten very used to buying their fruits and vegetables in the grocery store not in special markets, and those grocery stores tend to be supplied by extremely efficient producers from many different states who know more about growing and distributing fruits and vegetables than the average Iowa producer and distributor.”

He says it’s a tight learning curve and the economics of that have to be realized. Swenson says current farm policy favors large-scale row crop production, but that may change as demand for local produce increases. He says researchers found farmers could increase their revenue by converting to fruit and vegetable production, but they’d also have to spend more time managing those crops.

Swenson says, “I think what’s envisioned from people who are promoting local foods, it’s not that we get existing farmers to convert to fruits and vegetables production, it’s that we allow a crack in the door to agriculture that lets new types of farmers enter in and become part of the production system.”

Swenson found a local system could create nearly 10-thousand new jobs in the Upper Midwest, including more than 600 in Iowa. The study found that converting to a more local system could generate some $800 million in sales across six Midwestern states. Swenson focused his study on 28 common fruits and vegetables. Most Midwestern states currently produce only 1-to-3% of their population’s fruit and vegetable deman

California: Plunge in state revenue dashes hopes of an easy budget fix

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-state-budget-20100504,0,680610.story

Plunge in state revenue dashes hopes of an easy budget fix

State tax collections plummeted unexpectedly in April, wiping out months of steady gains that legislators hoped would ease their budget troubles and restore California's economy faster than experts predicted.

Such hope is now fading fast.

Revenue for April, the biggest revenue month because it is when most Californians pay their taxes, lagged projections by nearly 30% — roughly $3 billion, according to state officials. The drop was steep enough to erase improvements recorded in each of the four previous months.

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Economists and finance officials are scurrying to analyze the data to determine what caused the April swoon. Some suspect it sprang from new laws that changed the rhythm of tax payments. It could also reflect the growth in unemployed residents eligible for refunds.

The April collections came almost entirely from personal income taxes. Most corporate and sales taxes have not yet been reported. If they, too, come in below projections, the state's budget problem would grow worse.

The decline sets Sacramento back as next month's deadline for passing a budget approaches. Lawmakers face a deficit of $18.6 billion — about 20% of general fund spending — with no easy options left for addressing it, as they have already cut state services severely and temporarily raised income, sales and vehicle taxes.

"One pillar of the budget solution just got destroyed, and there's nothing that can happen between now and June that can get back the $3 billion," said Stephen Levy, director of the Center for Continuing Study of the California Economy.

The retraction could mean even deeper cuts in government services — schools, healthcare for the poor and services for the elderly. Lawmakers may also be forced to consider more reductions in funds for public universities, as well as tax hikes.

"It's hard to imagine how we're going to [balance the budget] without doing more severe damage to the economy," said state Sen. Denise Moreno Ducheny (D-San Diego), who chairs the Senate's budget committee.

For months, the Democrats who dominate the Legislature have hoped they would be able to balance the state's books with the help of an upswing in revenue, delaying any substantial budget cuts.

"Folks were starting to be pretty optimistic that we were going to be able to bounce our way back from a big chunk of the problem," said Michael Cohen, a deputy in the state's nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office. Taxes came in above expectations each month from December through March.

"April basically wiped out those" gains, Cohen said.

He said the state's economy, though on the mend, has been sending "all sorts of mixed messages." Corporations announced higher profits, but the state's stubborn unemployment rate reached a new high in March, 12.6%. Without jobs, Californians are paying fewer taxes and buying fewer goods, which depresses sales taxes.

To balance last year's budget, lawmakers tinkered heavily with the state tax code, speeding up the collection of taxes on businesses and individuals. One theory about the April revenue plunge is that those accelerated collections meant some taxes rolled into the Treasury months earlier.

"The more changes that you make, the more unpredictable it is," said Assembly Budget Committee Chairman Bob Blumenfield (D-Woodland Hills).

Another possibility, economists said, is that many Californians were owed larger-than-expected income tax refunds after losing their jobs in 2009.

Whether the revenue drop augurs an especially sluggish recovery is unclear. Fred Silva, a budget analyst with the good-government group California Forward, said the woeful April returns may reflect taxpayer income from the previous year's recession — not an up-to-date snapshot of the economy.

Ted Gibson, a former state economist, said this was not the first time rising revenue has been followed by a plunge. The flow of state tax revenue, he said, is notoriously hard to predict.

He said the jolt earlier in the year merely "gave everybody an excuse to take a timeout on dealing with the budget. Now they are pretty much back to where they were. And unfortunately, very little has been done in the meantime."

Senate budget committee Vice Chairman Bob Dutton (R-Rancho Cucamonga), who has been critical of Democrats' approach, said, "It's creating a lot of pain the longer you wait to make the necessary changes."

The Legislature's top two Democrats, Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) and Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez (D-Los Angeles), spent Monday in Washington, pleading for aid from congressional and Obama administration officials. Steinberg said before leaving that their goal was to gather federal commitments for $3 billion to $4 billion.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is scheduled to update his proposed budget on May 14. The new fiscal year begins July 1.

Pennsylvania budget deficit $1 billion and growing

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10124/1055323-454.stm

Pennsylvania budget deficit $1 billion and growing
Tuesday, May 04, 2010
By Tom Barnes, Post-Gazette Harrisburg Bureau

HARRISBURG -- After state revenue officials disclosed Monday that the state budget deficit has ballooned to more than $1 billion, Gov. Ed Rendell urged the Legislature to approve a combination of spending cuts, new taxes and revenue transfers that he said would erase the huge pool of red ink.

The deficit for the fiscal year that ends June 30 grew considerably worse in April, due to the ongoing damage to state tax revenues being done by the recession. At the end of March the deficit stood at $720 million, but it swelled by an additional $290 million in the past month and now tops $1 billion.

The biggest problems were with corporate tax revenues, which were $147 million below what had been expected, and personal income tax revenue, $129 million below estimates.

Sen. Jake Corman, R-Centre, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, estimated the deficit could hit $1.5 billion by the end of fiscal 2009-10 on June 30. He called on Mr. Rendell to make at least $1 billion in cuts to the $29 billion spending plan that the governor has proposed for fiscal 2010-11.

That budget starts July 1. One area for trimming, Mr. Corman said, could be the $355 million in additional spending for public education that Mr. Rendell has proposed. Mr. Rendell replied that Mr. Corman should give teachers and school administrators specifics on how much less they'll have to spend in fiscal 2010-11, and also tell homeowners how their school property taxes are likely to increase if state aid to education is reduced.

Mr. Rendell proposed three ways to erase the $1 billion deficit -- some new taxes, some spending cuts (including laying off state workers) and transfers from some budget line items, including what has been called a $200 million "slush fund" for legislative leaders.

Tax changes include:

• Enacting a first-time tax on sales of smokeless tobacco and cigars, generating $41 million in new revenue; supporters say Pennsylvania is the only state that doesn't tax chewing tobacco and one of only two states that doesn't tax cigars.

• Placing a new severance tax on natural gas pumped from Marcellus shale areas, raising $160 million; supporters said most other states with Marcellus shale have such a severance tax, but the natural gas industry is strongly fighting its enactment in Pennsylvania.

• Ending a "vendor discount" that gives a financial break to retailers who pay sales taxes on time, adding $73 million for state coffers; Mr. Rendell said there is no sense in giving giant chains like Wal-Mart and Target an unneeded windfall.

• Enacting "combined reporting," also known as ending the "Delaware loophole," where some large corporations avoid paying taxes in this state by setting up subsidiaries based in Delaware; Mr. Rendell said such a change would bring an additional $66 million.

• Benefitting from a change in federal Medicare Part D policy being made by the Obama administration, saving the state $275 million.

• Transferring $150 million from a fund that pays out state tax refunds, because it has an overage.

• Saving an unspecified amount of money by laying off more state workers, or by forcing some to take unpaid furloughs; plus, perhaps, cuts in social service programs run by counties, such as drug and alcohol counseling or mental health and retardation.

• One-time transfers from certain budget line items -- in particular, a $200 million administrative account, sometimes called a "slush fund," that legislative leaders use to keep staffers working in case of a budget impasse, such as the 101-day impasse that happened last year.

The governor did not propose increases in "across-the-board taxes," such as the personal income tax or the sales tax. Mr. Corman said there is no support in any of the four legislative caucuses for increasing those taxes, especially not in a year when legislators must run for re-election. Last year Mr. Rendell suggested an increase in the income tax, but even Democrats ran away from that idea.

Mr. Corman still is hoping a state budget for 2010-11 can be adopted by the deadline of July 1, but he couldn't rule out a repeat of the impasse that occurred last summer. He said he prefers spending cuts to any kind of new tax or tax increase.

Mr. Rendell said Mr. Corman should tell state employees how many more of them he'd like to lay off rather than approving the tobacco and natural gas taxes, which Mr. Rendell said the public approves of, according to recent polls.
Bureau Chief Tom Barnes: tbarnes@post-gazette.com or 1-717-787-4254.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10124/1055323-454.stm#ixzz0mw4WcZ00