The State Senate yesterday passed the House budget plan, which Governor Tom Wolf said he would sign, but a last-minute roadblock cropped up, and the legislature will have to return to work on the spending plan today.
The $34 billion plan was approved in the Senate, 42-8, but it changed parts of the school code in the bill, so it had to go back to the House for concurrence. House Republicans objected to a change I the compulsory school age from 8 to 17 years of age to 6 to 18 years of age. That could have been easily ironed out, but Democrats voted as a bloc against the omission of several technical educations programs that they claimed the Republicans had agreed to. They’ll return to session at 9 AM today.
Pittman says there are key elements of the budget that will make a big difference. One of them is a provision to restore $32 million in transportation funds that were previously used to fund State Police operations back to road and bridge construction, the purpose for which state law requires them to be used. This is part of a multi-year effort to reduce the amount of transportation revenue that is used fund State Police operations. “Through this effort, PENNDOT will have more money available for road and bridge improvement projects,” Pittman said. “We have made significant strides in improving our roadways since the enactment of Act 89 of 2013, but there is much work that needs to be done and this funding shift will support that effort.”
Final revenues for the current fiscal year are anticipated to be $865 million over projections, with an ending balance of about $300 million. All of that money will go into the state’s Rainy Day Fund. “It would be easy to spend that money,” Pittman said, “but we have to be very wise in how we use it. I prefer that we prepare for the next ‘rainy day’ that will inevitably occur.”
