Governor Corbett Signs New PA Budget

The budget was enacted with just minutes to spare from the Saturday midnight deadline.

For the second year in a row, Gov. Tom Corbett beat a midnight deadline and signed a state budget that includes no new taxes.  "Hopefully we're developing a habit, and I think the Pennsylvania citizens will appreciate that habit of on time," Corbett said after the signing ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda. The final $27.66 billion budget package includes several significant victories for the Corbett administration, including a tax incentive aimed at luring a Shell Oil Co. plant to Beaver County, a measure to alter how teachers are evaluated, and a proposal to tame rising prison costs through targeted sentencing, the Post-Gazette reported. The spending plan, approved by the House on Thursday and the Senate late Friday, maintains funding at …

•  34 Comments
• Photos (1)

jane

1:49 am on Friday, August 10, 2012

I am a bit late at getting around to reading this, but I believe this article proves your point exactly: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/24/dorothy-june-hairston-bro_n_1699765.html Philadelphia Charter School Mogul, Charged With Defrauding $6.5 Million In Tax Dollars, spread this far and wide! People need to know what a fraud these schools are and the corrupt politicians pushing for them …   more ›

State Senate Passes 2012-13 Budget

The final version was $500 million higher than Gov. Corbett's proposed budget.

The Pennsylvania Senate passed a nearly $27.66 billion state spending plan by a 32-17 vote late Friday, the Harrisburg Patriot-News is reporting. The budget is $500 million higher than Gov. Tom Corbett's initial proposal, according to the Post-Gazette. Other parts of budget package will still need to be acted on by the state House and Senate. The state House approved the budget on Thursday. The budget still requires action by Gov. Tom Corbett for final approval. The plan requires no increase in taxes or new taxes. It maintains funding at current year levels for public universities and most school districts, but some fiscally struggling districts received a little extra money, the Patriot-News reported. It cuts funding for human services by…

•  59 Comments
• Photos (1)

cc

4:41 pm on Thursday, July 5, 2012

(Part 4) Some districts are implementing mentoring and training programs led by highly trained teachers, and may pay for teachers to take classes in the subject they will be teaching. But in many poor school districts, both urban and rural, schools are facing teacher shortages. "Teaching in high-poverty, high-needs schools is not necessarily an appealing option," Rosen says. Even though many …   more ›

Letters to the Editor

Letter to the Editor: Budget Should Reflect the Will of Pennsylvanians

Steven Singer represents the organization Tell Everyone All Cuts Hurt, which includes hundreds of teachers from school districts in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties and around the state.

“Whoever troubles his own household will inherit the wind."  -- Proverbs 11:29  The T.E.A.C.H. organization would like to express its outrage at Republican House members for passing a state budget proposal that still cuts over $1 billion from education across the commonwealth. All Democrats and two Philadelphia Republicans voted against the measure. Republicans had been hoping for a unanimous vote among their party. They didn’t get it. This just goes to show how difficult it is for anyone to support this twisted budget. We visited, called, and wrote as many local Republican representatives as we could before this vote. I can’t believe they would just ignore the will of the people. This budget proposal is incredibly unpopular. You can’t …

• Photos (1)