Those funds would fuel Back to Work PA, a $3 billion initiative to support workers and small businesses struggling due to restrictions designed to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.
Lawmakers kicked off budget hearings Tuesday as the Pennsylvania state government faces a multibillion-dollar revenue gap.
In Pennsylvania, no Democratic governor has had even one chamber of the Legislature in his corner since 2010.
By Charles Thompson/PennLive and Jan Murphy/PennLive Gov. Tom Wolf asked lawmakers Wednesday to raise income taxes on higher earners and give public schools a massive boost in aid.
Impose a tax on Marcellus Shale natural gas production to underwrite billions of dollars to expand workforce development and employment assistance programs to help the state recover from the economic effects of the coronavirus.
“We should take no pleasure in MacGyvering a state budget by stealing funds that were meant for coronavirus relief,” said state Sen. Tim Kearney.
Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, earlier this fall asked the Republican-controlled Legislature for another $10 billion in spending to round out the fiscal year. That was after lawmakers approved a piecemeal, no-new-taxes $25.8 billion budget in May.
As state lawmakers prepare to discuss the latest proposed state budget, an expert group predicts the commonwealth won’t have enough tax money to fully fund it.
