We’re about a third of the way through the budget negotiations, Eachus said. He said the Democrats will caucus at 2:00 p.m. today, and again at 10:00 a.m. tomorrow, going through budget line by line.

Civera questioned what budget the House Democrats are looking at. We’re mirroring the 11-12 hours of work we did at the Governor’s residence, Eachus said. Senate Bill 850 is out of balance, but we’re still using the same reference point, he explained. The purpose is so our members clearly understand what we’ve been working on in Democratic leadership, and make the same informed judgments as the leaders, he said. Our caucus is concerned with education and health care cuts, we’re “really going to dig into” these issues in the next few days, Eachus announced. Investing in the PA economy is another key area, he said.