Chairman Adolph Applauds Passage of General Fund Budget
HARRISBURG – Rep. William F. Adolph, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, issued the following statement in regard to the passage of Senate Bill 1073, which will be the General Fund Budget for the 2016-17 Fiscal Year:
“Today the House, in a bipartisan effort, passed the General Fund budget for the 2016-17 fiscal year. The passage of this legislation represents compromise, which is something sorely missing from our political discourse. This budget held the line on spending in face of spiking mandated costs such as pensions. The budget also made key investments in education with $665 million more for Prek-12 education and a 2.5 percent increase for our state-related schools like Temple and Penn State and a 2.5 percent increase for our state-owned universities such as West Chester University and Cheyney University.
“Senate Bill 1073 will not rely on any broad-based tax increases, such as raising the personal income tax or the sales tax. The overwhelming majority of the increase in spending is due to mandated spending increases. With our pension cost for the Public School Employees’ Retirement System rising by $345 million and our State Employees’ Retirement System rising by $143 million, we faced a tough fiscal challenge. However, by working together we were able to produce a fiscally sound product.
“Senate Bill 1073 will spend a total of $31.6 billion. The budget now heads to the governor’s desk to be signed into law. It is my hope that Gov. Wolf will sign this budget promptly. After last year’s extended budget, I am glad that this year we were able to come together and get the budget done on time.”
Representative William Adolph
165th Legislative District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: John O’Brien
jobrien@pahousegop.com
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