PA House passes state appropriations bill, includes tuition freeze

The Pennsylvania House passed a state funding bill on Tuesday, which will include a tuition freeze for the next school year. 

The bill passed with a 145-57 vote after months of delay by the House Republicans over their opposition to Pitt’s fetal tissue research. Previously, the bill failed to pass in a 130-73 vote on July 6 after this year’s House Republicans argued that Pitt along with the other state-related universities should increase their transparency with the public and to the General Assembly.

As part of the new bill passing, Pitt along with the other state-related universities agreed to provide more information about their academics and operations. 

As part of the House’s initiatives to expand state-related university disclosures, The Pennsylvania House also passed a separate bill on Monday, which intends to expand transparency for the salaries of the highest-paid employees.

This bill would expand these institutions’ public disclosure requirements. If passed in the Senate, Pitt would be required to report the salaries of its 200 highest-paid employees, with faculty members’ salaries listed in ranges rather than specific dollar amounts. Currently, Pitt reports the salaries of only their 25 highest paid employees, while staff salaries at Pennsylvania’s state-related schools are all available online.

The Senate must now approve the state appropriation bill and Governor Josh Shapiro must sign on before the universities can receive the funds. The next Senate session will take place on Nov. 13.