Jun. 20, 2018
HARRISBURG – Rep. Tedd Nesbit (R-Mercer/Butler) said today a recovering economy, prudent spending and sound fiscal policies have put the Commonwealth on better financial footing that allowed the state House today to pass a 2018-19 budget without any increases in taxes or fees. The budget totals $32.7 billion.
“The economy has turned around, and together with good fiscal decisions we’ve made the past couple of years, we have been able to weather the storm and reach bipartisan agreement on a strong state budget,” said Nesbit. “We’re investing more than $14 billion in public education and making important investments in protecting our families and communities. This budget represents a lot of wins for people across the 8th District.”
The 2018-19 state budget is a 1.7 percent increase over the current fiscal year budget, which is below the rate of inflation. For the first time in a decade, the budget sets aside money for the state’s Rainy Day Fund.
The education portion of the budget, which is the largest expenditure, totals more than $14.1 billion. It includes a new $60 million initiative to ensure Pennsylvania’s children are in a safe learning environment and invests $100 million more for basic education, $25 million more for early childhood education and an additional $15 million for special education. This equates to a record-high $12.3 billion for prekindergarten through 12th-grade education. Additionally, the budget includes a 3 percent increase for Pennsylvania’s state-related universities and community colleges; a 3.3 percent boost for the State System of Higher Education, which includes Slippery Rock University; and $30 million more for career and technical education.
To view Rep. Nesbit’s video comments on the budget, a broadcast-quality link for
download is available here.
“Protecting our communities was also an important priority for us, and we’ve been able to set aside more money to train state troopers, without our communities having to pay an additional fee for police coverage,” Nesbit said. “That fee, along with a severance tax on natural gas drilling, were two items the governor asked for but didn’t get the support needed to pass.”
Additional funds will help care for those with intellectual disabilities and support emergency medical services.
Although the House passed the budget on Wednesday, it still needs to be approved in the Senate and signed by the governor. All indications are that the budget will be signed and in place by the June 30 deadline.
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Representative Tedd Nesbit
8th Legislative District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Jennifer Keaton
(717) 705-2094
jkeaton@pahousegop.com
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