Late Monday night, House and Senate Republicans and Governor Corbett agreed to a $27.1 billion dollar state budget deal. HB 1485 will be amended by the Senate Appropriations Committee and then make its way to the Senate today for debate and a vote. If passed it will go to the House. The budget measure must be passed by Thursday in order to meet the end of the fiscal year deadline. The legislature has missed the June 30 deadline eight years in a row.
While some are celebrating the movement of an on-time budget, others are upset about the process - Democrats who have been shut out of negotiated talks - and the funding levels - schools and public assistance programs who are seeing deep cuts.
Highlights from the budget numbers negotiated by Corbett and Republicans include (when compared to 2010-2011 spending levels after budgetary freezes not enacted levels):
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$283 million increase for Basic Education Funding
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Rejection of Governor Corbett's call to eliminate funding for the Community Based Family Centers - restoring $3.258 million of the current $6.258 million
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Level funds Nurse Family Partnership ($11.978 million) and maintains federal Medicaid funding
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Retains a $154 million cut to the Accountability Block Grant ultimately restoring $100 million after it faced elimination
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Includes a $836,000 cut to Pre-K Counts and $377,000 for the Head Start Supplemental Assistance
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Cuts $175,000 from the State Food Purchase ($17.338 million in funding retained)
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Consolidates the Commission for Women, Latino Affairs Commission, African-American Affairs Commission and Asian-American Affairs Commission into a joint Office of Public Liaison with funding of $338,000 (combined they had been funded at $778,000)
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Eliminates $17.5 million in funding for Housing and Redevelopment Assistance
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Reduces from $10.4 million to $2 million funding for the Homeowners Emergency Mortgage Assistance Program (HEMAP) and reduces by $2.05 million funding for Homeless Assistance
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Rejected the 10 percent cut sought by the House Republicans providing level funding for Rape Crisis and Domestic Violence Services
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Cuts funding for child care services ($17.4 million), child care assistance ($17.593 million) and raises co-pays for child care for low-income families at a time that about 9,000 children are awaiting connection to a child care subsidy
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County child welfareis slated to serve abused and neglected children and youth with $36 million fewer dollars although the net cut may be less when offset by a $1.6 million redirection in additional TANF funds to child welfare as well as when historical issues of under spending and efficiencies are considered
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Makes a $9,000 cut to the Council of the Arts which is headed by First Lady Susan Corbett
Thanks To Cathleen Palm & Associates for contributing numbers.
For more information contact: Joe Ostrander
717-233-1075
joe@thecaap.org