With Gov. Josh Shapiro’s signature on Sunday, Pennsylvania’s $50.8 billion state budget is now law, and local lawmakers say it brings new education funding, infrastructure dollars and expanded tax credits without raising taxes or tapping the state’s rainy-day fund.
Rep. Paul Takac said the budget increases funding for grade schools, technology centers and higher education.
“For school districts that serve Centre County, this means another 3 million dollars in new funding and bringing our four year total closer to 20 million dollars in funding for our K-12 public schools, It also includes for the first time in many years an increase in support for Penn State students and their families.”
Sen. Wayne Langerholc said his key takeaways include no tax increase, and spending that came in more than $1 billion below what was originally proposed, which he said will help grow the state’s economy. Langerholc said the budget includes efforts aimed at keeping people in Pennsylvania as they enter the workforce, along with setting aside more money for bridges and other infrastructure.
“Cambria County will receive about $11 million in highway project money additional, Clearfield about 10, and Centre County about $9.5 million, Those are real dollars for real projects. For paving, for infrastructure, something that has been neglected and we’ve been fighting for to get done, they will see that now in the very near future.”
House Republican Leader Jesse Topper said state employees, teachers, and police and firefighters who retired before 2001 will receive a cost-of-living adjustment to their income for the first time since their retirement.
Rep. Frank Burns called it a “good budget” that includes “several wins” for Johnstown and Cambria County.
“Another major victory we got in the budget was a housing KOZ, which is a Keystone Opportunity Zone. Now this is strictly for housing. This would enable us to remove blight and replenish our housing stock. So, if you rip a building down and you rebuild on that same plot of land you would get a tax abatement for the next 10 years, so it provides quite the incentive to start knocking down blight in our area,”
Topper also emphasized that the budget was completed in a reasonable timeframe compared with last year’s delay of several months.
“I think that brings a lot of stability to folks who depend on state money throughout the commonwealth,”
Lawmakers also said the budget addresses mental health resources and protections for the most vulnerable citizens.