Pennsylvania lawmakers approved a $47.6 billion budget deal nearly two weeks into the new fiscal year that started July 1. Gov. Josh Shapiro signed the main spending bill on July 11 after it passed the House 122-80 and the Senate 44-5. The budget represents a 6% increase over last year’s approved spending, with most of the new money going toward public schools and human services to boost pay for direct care workers. The plan also devotes more money to making college more affordable in a state that’s rated as among the worst in the nation in affordability and allots hundreds of millions of dollars to compete for huge, new projects like multibillion-dollar microchip plants. The plan doesn’t increase sales or income tax rates, the state’s two major revenue sources, although the package carries tax cuts for businesses to deduct more losses and students to deduct loan interest.
Source: WHYY; 7/12/2024