In this Feb. 5, 2019 file photo, Gov. Tom Wolf delivers his budget address for the 2019-20 fiscal year to a joint session of the Pennsylvania House and Senate in Harrisburg, Pa. State and local government records that have been stolen or have otherwise ended up in private hands without authorization would be much easier to reclaim under legislation that could pass the Pennsylvania House in the coming days. A bill scheduled for a vote this week would give the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission the power to demand the return of records with historical value and to ask Commonwealth Court to order that they be turned over.
Assembly cash reserve hit record as spending fell last year
The 253-member General Assembly ended the fiscal year with a budgetary reserve that easily surpassed the former high mark of $215 million, reached in 2006.
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Matt Rourke / AP Photo
In this Feb. 5, 2019 file photo, Gov. Tom Wolf delivers his budget address for the 2019-20 fiscal year to a joint session of the Pennsylvania House and Senate in Harrisburg, Pa. State and local government records that have been stolen or have otherwise ended up in private hands without authorization would be much easier to reclaim under legislation that could pass the Pennsylvania House in the coming days. A bill scheduled for a vote this week would give the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission the power to demand the return of records with historical value and to ask Commonwealth Court to order that they be turned over.
(Harrisburg) — Annual spending by the Pennsylvania Legislature dropped by some $12 million in the year that ended in June, helping lawmakers’ cash reserve grow to a record $233 million, auditors reported Monday.
The Legislative Audit Advisory Commission approved the report that showed the Legislature went through nearly $380 million during the 2020-21 fiscal year. That’s down from more than $392 million in 2019-20.
The 253-member General Assembly ended the fiscal year with a budgetary reserve that easily surpassed the former high mark of $215 million, reached in 2006. The budget reserve had also grown, by $28 million, during the 2019-20 year.
Leaders have defended the reserve as a way to ensure their operations can continue during some future budget standoff with the governor. The surplus was $95 million in 2016-17.
Spending last year on legislative personnel, by far its largest category, declined by $7.5 million to nearly $321 million. Pennsylvania has one of the country’s largest legislative staffs.
The cost of the renovations and preservation for the General Assembly jumped to $2.4 million last year from $391,000 in 2019-20.
