The state's precarious fiscal situation is getting worse -- much worse, the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee said yesterday.

Rep. Dwight Evans D-Philadelphia, said the revenue shortfall for the current fiscal year, which ends June 30, is now projected to be "at least $3 billion."

That's $700 million more than the $2.3 billion that Gov. Ed Rendell forecast three months ago, and $400 million higher than some legislators forecast just a month ago.

"The numbers are staggering," Mr. Evans said. "We have a lot of work to do. Do we need to make decisions that are painful? Absolutely."

The state's original spending plan for fiscal 2008-09 was $28.26 billion, but that is being trimmed by more than half a billion dollars. The state Revenue Department is due to release the state's April revenue collections today.

"Given the national economic indicators, the [Pennsylvania revenue] numbers could be grim," said Rendell aide Chuck Ardo.

A state representative from Philadelphia is introducing a bill to permit the use of medical marijuana in Pennsylvania under certain restrictions.

Democratic Rep. Mark Cohen said people in pain should not be forced to choose between moving out of state for treatment or buying drugs from criminals.

The bill has only six co-sponsors, but Cohen said he's optimistic about its prospects because polls show high levels of public support and lawmakers have to respond to their constituents.

The state Liquor Control Board didn't break the law but showed impaired judgment and ignored red flags when it awarded a $173,820 contract to a regional director's spouse, Auditor General Jack Wagner said Wednesday.

The liquor board last month referred the matter to Wagner after newspapers revealed it awarded a contract to Solutions 21, a Pittsburgh firm whose president, John "Buddy" Hobart, is married to the board's western regional director, Susanne Hobart.

Liquor board Chairman P.J. Stapleton III said he is pleased Wagner's review concluded no laws were broken. The board said Solutions 21 submitted the lowest proposal to provide courtesy training to state store clerks.

Wagner said he found no evidence Susanne Hobart funneled confidential information to Solutions 21 or influenced the process. But he said the liquor board ignored red flags and exercised poor judgment.

The Legislature went too far in barring casino owners and executives from making any political campaign contributions, Pennsylvania's highest court ruled Thursday in wiping out what had been touted as a major bulwark against the gambling industry's influence.

The Supreme Court said the law's approach to banning all contributions was an overly broad and harmful attempt to combat corruption -- or even just the appearance of corruption -- that violated the state constitution's guarantee of free speech.

Writing for the 5-1 majority, Chief Justice Ronald D. Castille also said the blanket ban was out of step with the law's intent. In the law, lawmakers wrote it was necessary to prevent corruption that may result from ''large campaign contributions,'' but went on to prohibit all such contributions.

Castille did not rule out the constitutionality of a limited ban that capped political campaign contributions from the gambling industry at a certain amount.

''A statute that limited the size of contributions, rather than absolutely prohibiting any contributions, would be more narrowly drawn to accomplish the stated goal,'' he wrote.