Pennsylvania heads into fiscal year without budget in place

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Work on a new state budget for Pennsylvania will plow into next week as the state government started the fiscal year with diminished spending authority and details of a new plan still largely a secret. Leaders of the Republican-controlled House and Senate sent rank-and-file lawmakers home through the holiday weekend, but top lawmakers professed confidence Friday that closed-door negotiations on a roughly $42 billion spending plan were on the right track. Without new spending authority in place, the state is legally barred from making some payments, although a stalemate must typically last several weeks before any effect on services is felt.