The second week of budget hearings gets underway today before the House and Senate Appropriations Committees. The schedule for the Senate this week includes the Department of State and State Police today, the Labor & Industry and Agriculture departments tomorrow, an all-day session with the Department of Education on Wednesday, and the State-Related Universities and State System of Higher Education on Thursday.
State System Chancellor Dan Greenstein told the House committee last week that freezing tuition has done very little to halt enrollment declines at the state-owned universities. He said the System will need $573.5 million from the state in order to keep the tuition freeze in place and fund student financial support. That’s $10 million more than Governor Shapiro proposed in his budget address.
The House budget hearings this week will feature the State Police and Department of Aging today, the departments of Health and Drug & Alcohol Programs tomorrow, the Department of State on Wednesday (including Elections), and the Department of Corrections and Board of Probation and Parole, plus Department of Transportation on Thursday.
The budget hearings will conclude next week.
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