Gov. Wolf’s 2017-2018 state budget round-up

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf plans to save $2 billion for Pennsylvania residents — opting to focus on budget cuts instead of raising taxes.

In a budget discussion held Tuesday morning in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Wolf revealed his proposed $32.3 billion budget for the 2017 fiscal year. Next, the appropriations committees of the House and Senate will hold hearings from now until June to review agency requests for funds. The fiscal year starts July 1, and Pennsylvania legislatures have until before then to vote on the bill. Here are the five most important takeaways from Wolf’s budget:

Raising the minimum wage from $7.25 to $12

Wolf plans to generate $95 million in revenue annually by raising the minimum wage. This is not the first time he has made a motion to raise the minimum wage. He signed an executive order in March that increased the minimum for state government employees and employees of organizations that receive state contracts to $10.15 per hour.

“The people who put us here want to see progress. They deserve to see progress. And when we’ve worked together, we’ve been able to deliver that progress,” Wolf said in his presentation.

Shortening the deficit

To shorten the $3 billion deficit, Wolf proposes to centralize state government by consolidating shared services — like human resources and information technology — and selling property the state owns but doesn’t use as well as consolidating pension funds. This would help with long-term fiscal stability by growing the “rainy day fund” — money set aside by the government to be used during a time of revenue shortfalls or budget deficit — from its current state of $245,000 to $500 million in five years.

Wolf also plans to create a unified Department of Health and Human Services by merging four separate agencies — the Department of Human Services, Drug and Alcohol Programs, Health and Aging. These consolidations will save the state $2 billion, which will be used for educational support, supporting Pennsylvania senior citizens and combating Pennsylvania’s opioid epidemic, according to his budget remarks.

Increasing educational support

Wolf’s budget plan includes increasing state educational support at all levels by $209 million. Specifically, Wolf proposes a $100 million increase in basic education funding, a $25 million increase in special education funding, a $75 million increase in high-quality early childhood education and $8.9 million increase for the 14 Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education universities.

Education funds are often the first thing to get cut when there is a budget deficit — in 2012, the state cut $1 billion from public education, a move Wolf does not want to make.

“Over the past two years, we’ve taken a different approach — instead of allowing schools to become the first casualty of our budget deficit, we’ve made them our first priority,”  said.

Combating Pennsylvania’s opioid epidemic 

The 2017-2018 budget will help combat Pennsylvania’s opioid epidemic by placing significant emphasis on expanding access to treatment. This will divert those suffering from substance use away from the criminal justice system and into supportive programs.

In 2016, the Drug Enforcement Administration released an analysis report of overdose death in Pennsylvania. There were 3,383 overdose deaths accounted for in coroners’ reports last year, a 23.4 percent increase from 2,742 overdose deaths in 2014.

Wolf also called for $10 million to expand access to Naloxone, which is used to revive drug overdose victims.

Providing more money for Pennsylvania’s senior citizens 

By using the $2 billion from consolidations, Pennsylvania will be able to provide more streamlined services — especially for older Pennsylvanians — resulting in less confusion and easier access to prescription drug assistance and care in their own homes.

This budget also provides $26.2 million to protect the lottery fund —  established in 1971 to fund programs that benefit older Pennsylvanians, like property tax and rent rebates, and free transit and reduced-fare ride share programs.

On top of these propositions, Wolf said that state Republicans and Democrats need to work together in order to solve the state’s budget woes.

“I’m ready to get to work. And I hope you are, too,” he said.