The Pennsylvania House and Senate each passed the 2021-2022 budget on Friday.
The state budget tops out at $40.8 Billion, and calls for no increase in personal or business taxes. Total spending in the budget increased by 7.8% over last year’s budget. Spending increased thanks to federal Covid-19 relief money coming in along with an increase in state tax collections.
Both State Representative Jim Struzzi and Senator Joe Pittman voted to support the budget. Struzzi said that the budget provides much needed services for Pennsylvania in the coming year, and he also praised the $30 million increase in spending for basic and early childhood education, and the $50 million expansion in spending for special education. Struzzi also said that IUP and other state system universities would also receive a boost in funding.
Pittman said in a statement that he was also happy with the increase in education spending, and he added that he was happy that 100% of the $2.5 billion surplus from the previous budget went to the state’s Rainy Day fund. He said that the state’s economy has not yet recovered from the financial problems connected to Covid-19, and since the state cannot expect additional help from the federal government, he felt it was best to build up the state’s reserves.
The votes came to 140-61 in the House and 43-7 in the senate. The budget heads to the Governor’s office, and Governor Tom Wolf said he would sign it next week, ahead of the budget deadline.
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