Jun. 20, 2018
HARRISBURG — Rep. Zach Mako (R-Lehigh/Northampton) joined his colleagues in approving a $32.7 billion Fiscal Year 2018-19 state budget on Wednesday. He issued the followed statement in response:
“I’m pleased we passed an on-time budget that continues our work to put and keep Pennsylvania on the right track to grow the economy. The past two budgets have been the smallest spending increases in years and well below the rates of inflation.
“We have done all this and still increased funding for our schools each year by $100 million for basic education. We also have increased our support of early education and special education. In addition, we committed an additional $30 million for career and technical education. As the sponsor of legislation to increase student awareness about workforce needs and opportunities, we need to support education that leads to good-paying jobs that do not require a college degree. We are not shortchanging higher education either. We are providing a 3.3 percent increase to the State System of Higher Education and a 3.3 percent increase to our community colleges and the state-related universities. This should help reduce the need for in-state tuition increases.
“In addition to increasing education funding, we have created a block grant program to assist school districts with improving security. The $60 million initiative will allow schools to address their most pressing safety needs, whether it be school resource officers, metal detectors, school safety assessments and preplanning or other facility upgrades. The last thing students should worry about while gaining an education is their safety.”
For more information on the 2018-19 budget, visit
pahousegop.com.
The 183rd District includes South Whitehall (part), Washington and Whitehall (part) townships and Slatington Borough in Lehigh County. It also consists of Allen, Lehigh and Moore (part) townships, and North Catasauqua, Northampton and Walnutport boroughs in Northampton County.
Representative Zachary Mako
183rd Legislative District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Tracy Polovick
717.260.6358
tpolovick@pahousegop.com
RepMako.com /
Facebook.com/RepMako