Earlier today, Governor Tom Wolf signed the 2021-2022 Pennsylvania Budget, finalizing the spending plan for the next fiscal year.
That plan includes a record investment in education, increasing the subsidies for public education by $416 million. The increase includes an extra $200 million in the fair funding formula, and another $100 million to support underfunded school districts through the Level Up initiative.
The budget also included a $2.52 billion into the state’s rainy day fund with the reserves from surplus revenue and Covid-19 money that the state received. This brings the rainy day reserves to $2.76 billion, a level that many reports say is the national average for states to have on hand for emergencies. Four years ago, the balance in the rainy day fund was $245,000.
Governor Wolf also announced that he vetoed House Bill 1300, an election reform bill that would have required voters provide ID every time they vote, allowing for earlier in-person voting, and requiring signature checks for mail-in ballots. Senator Joe Pittman and State Representative Jim Struzzi both voted in favor of the bill, but Governor Wolf vetoed it, saying the proposed changes would create “unconscionable and in some cases, unconstitutional” roadblocks to voters.
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