Four billion.
It's a figure you're going to hear a lot about over the next half year.
Amid the pageantry set to take place in the gilded chambers of the state Capitol Tuesday afternoon, that number — $4,000,000,000 — will be rattling around the minds of Pennsylvania's next batch of legislators.
It's the size of the looming budget deficit.
And it's a hole the state's incoming governor, Republican Tom Corbett, has promised to fill without raising your taxes.
"That will be the No. 1 priority — and the most difficult task we face," said Rep. Scott Boyd, a Republican from West Lampeter Township.
Boyd, who is beginning his fifth term in the 43rd Legislative District, will be among all 202 House members being sworn in at noon Tuesday for a new two-year legislative session. Twenty-five members of the state Senate also are taking the oath of office.
Among the 32 freshmen lawmakers being sworn in is Republican Ryan Aument, a Landisville resident who won election in November and will succeed retired state Rep. Katie True in the 41st Legislative District.
Lawmakers returning to office after winning re-election in November say righting the state's fiscal situation is, by far, the top priority when they return.
But there are plenty of other issues — some related, some not — that await legislators.
Here's a primer on five major issues you're going to be hearing a lot about this year, local legislators and political analysts say.
THE DEFICIT
Tackling a $4 billion state deficit and getting a no-tax budget passed on time is going to be a Herculean task.
The question, of course, is how to do it — by cutting spending and selling off assets, as many Republicans propose, or by creating new taxes or raising others, as some Democrats suggest?
State Rep. Gordon Denlinger, a Republican from Narvon who is beginning a fifth term, said Corbett's no-tax-hike pledge and looming $4 billion deficit will dominate state-government affairs in 2011.
"With Gov.-elect Corbett's pledge not to raise taxes in place, tough choices on spending cuts will need to be made," Denlinger said.
Republicans will control the House, Senate and Governor's Mansion for the first time in eight years. They have a 112-91 majority in the House.
Corbett will be sworn in on Jan. 18.
The county's senior legislator, Democratic state Rep. Mike Sturla of Lancaster city, warned that funding for education and vital social services could be slashed to avoid an increase in state income taxes, resulting in higher local taxes.
"Because they control all three branches of government, my guess is that they will claim a clear mandate to do whatever they please," Sturla said.
GOVERNMENT REFORM
Corbett has promised to work to eliminate the notorious discretionary spending for legislators — so-called "walking around money," or WAMs — early in his first term. Another of his campaign pledges was to eliminate per diems paid to legislators for food and lodging, and to reduce the state automotive fleet.
LIQUOR STORES
Corbett has advocated a plan to shutter the more than 600 state-operated wine and spirits stores and begin selling wholesale and retail liquor licenses to private operators. The move, which suffered legislative defeats in the 1970s and 1980s, could generate at least $2 billion in one-time revenue.
SCHOOL CHOICE
Corbett reportedly favors giving taxpayer-funded tuition vouchers so that students in poor-performing schools can attend private or religious schools. Other high-ranking Republicans are planning to hold hearings on legislation making it easier to open charter schools.
MARCELLUS SHALE
Some legislators believe the state should reap the benefits of the rich reserves of natural gas in the Marcellus Shale region. There is some support for a severance tax on natural gas drilling in the Legislature — though Corbett has said he opposes such a move.
