The state budget proposal Gov. Ed Rendell unveiled Tuesday looks like deja vu to at least one lawmaker.

"It's the same old Rendell tax and spend budget," Rep. Kathy Rapp, R-Warren, said Wednesday.

Rendell's latest spending plan increases the budget to $29 billion.

"That's another billion dollars of spending," Rapp said.

While spending would be increased, Rapp noticed certain cuts that would impact the 65th District she represents. Specifically, she said funding to higher education councils and hardwood research would be slashed.

Rendell's proposed budget also includes an overhaul of the state's sales tax, which would be decreased from six percent to four percent. However, the items and services that could be taxed would be expanded. For example, sales tax would be imposed on candy, gum, personal hygiene products, newspapers, magazines, legal services and residential electricity.

A change in the sales tax system is not a new concept, Rapp noted.

"This is a plan (Rendell) actually borrowed from the property tax reform from 2005," she said, adding that when it was debated previously on the House floor, it went nowhere.

"He's expecting that to generate a certain amount of revenue," she said. "I'm going to wait and see how some of the figures run."

Rapp believes there are still some items in the proposed budget that could be cut to reduce spending. For example, she said the governor increased the amount of funding allocated to the Pennsylvania Commission for Women.

"We never hear from these people," she said, adding that the funding could be better spent elsewhere.

Rapp said the Republican Caucus has yet to go through each line item of the proposed budget, adding, "We have not had the time to digest it and look at the alternatives."

However, she said, "I think the people across Pennsylvania are tired of seeing government grow."

State Senators Mary Jo White and Joseph Scarnati could not be reached for comment, although Scarnati told the Associated Press on Tuesday, "I know the governor said we already cut to the bone, but there's a good layer of fat before we get to the bone."