By MARC LEVY
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania state lawmakers are returning to session Monday with a big June agenda and sharp differences over the future of the state’s finances, schools, energy sector and election procedures.
With four weeks to wrap up their work for an on-time budget, there will be lots of distractions.
The state has some good fiscal news: a huge surplus since tax collections rebounded far better than expected from the pandemic’s impact. Meanwhile, sitting in a state bank account is $7.3 billion of federal money from the American Rescue Plan that President Joe Biden signed in March.
Senate Majority Leader Kim Ward, R-Westmoreland, said the Republican-controlled Senate’s focus is wrapping up the budget, as well as funding for public and private education, broadband and transportation. Election legislation is also a top priority in June, but deep partisan differences make its passage iffy.
The surplus has put aside Gov. Tom Wolf’s talk of a broad overhaul of the personal income tax.
However, Wolf, a Democrat, still wants a $1.3 billion , about a 20% increase. That would ensure that Pennsylvania begins using its five-year-old school-funding formula in meaningful way for the first time.
The , in part, was meant to help boost aid to the poorest school districts, many of which serve big populations of African American and Latino children.