Reports suggest that Gov. Wolf signed the $45.2 billion budget into law one week and one day after the June 30th deadline passed. Current Republican candidate for Governor Doug Mastriano criticized the budget as “way too much”. The budget is nearly 3% larger than the budget that expired last Thursday. The state rainy day fund will increase to nearly $5 billion, thanks to an infusion of cash Pennsylvania received from the American Rescue Plan Act. $140 million will go to homeowners 65 and older in direct property tax relief, having a hard time keeping up with high inflation. Public education will see an infusion of $1 billion in new money. Now school districts across the state will see how much money they will get for the 22-23 year just ahead. Democratic Senator Jay Costa says while this new cash will help, he thinks that public education is still underfunded.
