Pennsylvania’s budget impasse ended after the divided state legislature agreed to send millions of dollars to community colleges and libraries, fund public legal defense, and create a student teacher stipend. Three budget-enabling code bills, plus dozens of other pieces of legislation, passed with broad bipartisan support, marking a sudden end to five-and-a-half months of deadlock. The budget bills create a handful of new programs, many of which had been prioritized by state House Democrats, including ones that would more than triple the size of Pennsylvania’s child care tax credit and add preventative dental care to the state’s Medicaid program. Other programs caught in the code bill delay, such as the stipends, indigent defense funding, and state allocations to community colleges and libraries, ultimately received funding, though the delay caused hardships. The Whole-Home Repair Program, which provides grants to property owners who need to fund expensive maintenance projects like fixing leaky roofs, was not in the deal and will not receive the $50 million lawmakers agreed to spend earlier in the year. The bills were signed by Gov. Josh Shapiro.
Source: Gettysburg Times; 12/15/2023