HARRISBURG — Sen. Dave Argall (R-29) supported a state budget today that doesn’t raise taxes. The final agreement was approved by a bipartisan vote of 44-6 in the Senate.
“This is the most important vote we’ll cast this year,” Argall said. “While it’s unusual for us to be at the Capitol on Saturdays and Sundays, this was necessary to finally move the annual budget legislation to the governor’s desk.”
Gov. Josh Shapiro originally proposed a budget that would have increased spending by $2.7 billion (5.4% increase) and taken approximately $4.6 billion from the state’s emergency reserves in the Rainy Day Fund. His plan would have required massive tax increases next year.
The final agreement negotiated by the Senate and the House cut more than $1.1 billion from the governor’s spending request and will not require any withdrawals from the Rainy Day Fund.
The Senate reduced more than a billion dollars in overspending from the Department of Human Services, including several areas of waste, fraud and abuse identified by Argall.
The agreement also requires PennDOT to deploy an additional $775 million for local highway repairs.