Pennsylvania May Lay Off Less Than 200

In a statement Monday, Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell said that layoffs at the state level in Pennsylvania may number less than 200. Earlier this year, Rendell had warned that as many as 4,000 state workers along with thousands of municipal employees in Pennsylvania cities might lose their jobs if congress didn’t pass its long-debated state aid bill.

That bill has now cleared the Senate and seems very likely to pass through the House later this week. Pennsylvania expects about $600 million in federal aid from the bill, which will still leave the state with a $200 million budget hole for Governor Rendell to fill.