By: Justin Sweitzer
Gov. Tom Wolf signed Pennsylvania’s new $39.8 billion state budget into law on June 30 and it was historic on many fronts. It came as the state transitioned out of the COVID-19 pandemic and was the first full-year budget approved by lawmakers since 2019. Lawmakers had a trove of federal funds to work with, thanks to a massive infusion of cash from President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan, which delivered nearly $7.3 billion in state aid to the Commonwealth.
The budget includes significant investments in education funding; it stashed away billions for future budget budget cycles and it divvied out a portion of federal COVID-19 funds. But it has been both praised and criticized for what it contains and what it leaves out.
