Pennsylvania lawmakers pass nearly $48B budget almost 2 weeks late

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania lawmakers ground through a flurry of votes Thursday to approve a budget deal, nearly two weeks into the new fiscal year after being slowed by disagreements during closed-door negotiations over Democrats’ push for more public schools aid.

The $47.6 billion plan for the fiscal year that started July 1 represents a 6% increase over last year’s approved spending, with most of the new money going toward public schools and human services to boost pay for direct care workers.

The plan also devotes more money to making college more affordable in a state that’s rated as among the worst in the nation in affordability and hundreds of millions to compete for huge new projects like multibillion-dollar microchip plants.

Votes in the Republican-controlled Senate and Democratic-controlled House began within hours of rank-and-file lawmakers getting their first look at hundreds of pages of budget-related legislation that first became public Thursday.

Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro was expected to sign the legislation late Thursday after the main spending bill passed the House 122-80 and the Senate 44-5. Republican opponents attacked it as a bloated and irresponsible budget that would boost debt and spend down surpluses in an aging state facing projections of year-over-year deficits.

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