PA’s Unspent Stimulus Cash Will Pad Out $35B Budget

From the Pennsylvania Capital-Star:

By Stephen Caruso

November 19, 2020

A $35 billion budget deal, buoyed by federal stimulus money emerged in Harrisburg Thursday, a 2.2 percent cut from last year.

The budget would complete a drawn-out fiscal process that started in June, and was made more complicated by the economic stagnation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The proposed budget will use a remaining $1 billion of stimulus funds to backfill employment costs for police, corrections officers, and Department of Health employees.

Lawmakers and interest groups previously had eyed those funds to pay for everything from school vouchers to rental aid.

The budget plan also will transfer $531 million out of numerous out-of-budget funds that support programs ranging from recycling and medical marijuana to the state’s judicial computer system.

A House Republican spokesperson said the budget was agreed to with Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf.

A spokesperson for Wolf, did not say if he agreed to this budget blueprint, only saying that “the administration is working with the General Assembly to complete a balanced budget by the end of November.”

“It is critical for us to finalize the budget by November to avoid furloughs and any stoppage of critical payments to providers and grantees,” they added.

This story was originally published by the Pennsylvania Capital-Star. For more stories from the Pennsylvania Capital-Star, visit PennCapital-Star.com.