Budget Update
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Budget Update: Near End
The Commonwealth’s FY 2009–10 budget was signed into law by Governor Rendell on Friday, October 9 at 9:00 p.m., 101 days after the June 30 deadline. The budget has been late every year since Governor Rendell took office in 2003, making this year number seven.
Although many recipients of state funding have begun to receive money, a plan to legalize poker, blackjack and other table games at casinos in order to produce an additional $200 million is still on the negotiating table. Funding for the state-related universities, including Pitt, is being withheld and used as leverage in negotiations until table games legislation is approved. Senate GOP leaders have said there is sufficient funding in the approved budget even if lawmakers don't approve table games.
Pitt and the three other state-related universities, as well as the Children’s Institute of Pittsburgh, the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia and several museums, medical groups and art programs, are still waiting for their allocations. The House of Representatives isn't scheduled to return until November 9. We will keep you informed as we wait for Pitt’s appropriation and will send a final budget update as soon as the Legislature and Governor confirm the details or agreed upon table games legislation.
The $27.8 billion budget doesn’t include any broad-based tax increases and relies on $2.6 billion in federal stimulus funds. A variety of new taxes including a 25-cent-per-pack increase in the cigarette tax, a first-ever tax on little cigars, a new gross receipts tax levied on Medicaid managed care organizations and the delay of a planned phase-out of a tax on business assets are expected to generate $909 million in revenue.
The approved plan will raise an additional $60 million by leasing state land to energy companies for natural gas extraction. Lawmakers tapped $1.4 billion in one-time revenue sources, depleting the state's $755 million rainy day fund, transferring money from the tobacco-settlement fund and tapping an account that subsidizes physicians' payments for medical malpractice insurance. The total general fund reduction is $524 million or 1.8 percent less than last year’s budget of $28.3 billion. The approved budget spends $1.1 billion less than the budget Governor Rendell proposed.
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Resources to help you understand the budget process and unacceptable funding trend...
ARRA Budget Action Alert
Budget Funding Chart