"It's too early to jump to conclusions," says the Rendell administration, but for the second straight month, Pennsylvania has taken in less tax revenue than it anticipated.

The state collected $1.7 billion in General Fund revenues in August, which is 6.6 percent less than it anticipated. That leaves a $117.5 million budget shortfall for the state.

July revenues were also below what the state anticipated. The fiscal year runs from July 1, 2008, to June 30, 2009.

Just do the math. If the state continues to spend $100 million more each month than it takes in, where does that leave us in a year?

Don't say a lot of people didn't see this coming.

Many of the Republican lawmakers who voted against Gov. Rendell's $28.3 billion budget stated publicly that the state was going into deficit spending and could end up more than $1 billion in the red by the end of the current fiscal year.

By the way, only 1 Democratic legislator voted against the budget, so that's why I highlighted the fact that it was Republican lawmakers who sounded the alarm bells in June and July.

Perhaps you would like to ask your incumbent state lawmaker who voted for Rendell's deficit budget how the state will dig itself out of a $1 billion hole? If they can't come up with a good answer, maybe you should elect a new state lawmaker on Nov. 4.

Follow the link below for more information from the Revenue Department.

Pennsylvania Revenue Department Releases August Collections