Gov. Tom Wolf's Last Budget, With Focus On Favorite Topics, Gets Cool Response From Republicans

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Governor Tom Wolf delivered his eighth and final budget address to the General Assembly on Tuesday.

As political editor Jon Delano reports, it's a budget with no tax increases, but a big increase in spending for education.

"Members of the General Assembly, I now have the honor and privilege of presenting his excellency, the governor of Pennsylvania, Tom Wolf," said House Speaker Bryan Cutler to those assembled in the House chamber in Harrisburg.

Wolf addressed state lawmakers for the last time, declaring that after inheriting a budget deficit he's leaving the state in good financial shape.

"At long last, our fiscal house is in order. Over the past seven years, we've turned that 2 to 3 billion dollar structural budget deficit into a 2 to 3 billion dollar structural budget surplus," said Wolf to applause from lawmakers.

Repeating that the state does not need to raise any taxes -- in fact, should cut the corporate net income tax for business -- Wolf proposed a $43.7 billion state budget with a record increase of $1.75 billion for public education.

It's a balanced budget with no tax hikes, a business tax cut, and more money for medical assistance, nursing homes, state police, and food programs. But the governor spent a lot of time talking about public education and the minimum wage.

"Refusing to fund education equitably simply does not save us money. It just means we wind up spending more on other things -- social services, remedial programs, even prisons," said Wolf.

Wolf's latest budget includes a massive $1.75 billion hike for public schools, a fair funding formula he says is possible because the state has billions of unspent dollars.

"We can afford to invest a whole lot more in the fair funding formula without raising one penny in state taxes," said Wolf.

But it may be a hard sell to the Republican-controlled state legislature. Republican Senate President Jake Corman warned school districts not to count on this money.

"I hope our school districts understand that this is just what it is, but it's not reality," said Corman.

Republican lawmakers, who support some increase, say Wolf's large increase would not be sustainable in the future, while Democrats say Republicans are playing with the numbers.

"There are things in the budget that I don't disagree with, but we have to sustain them. We have to be able to sustain them, and that's what we will be working on during the budget process," says PA Senate Majority Leader Kim Ward, a Republican.

"I think it's the way in which they manipulate the numbers," says PA Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa. "We're going to end this year with a $6 billion surplus."

"At the end of the day, we believe it's a sustainable budget, allowing us to continue to make the investments we need in a thoughtful, reasonable way," says Costa.

On another issue, Wolf calls it "embarrassing" that all the states around us have increased their minimum wage. So he, once again, asked lawmakers to implement a $12 minimum wage this summer.

"It's time to do the right thing. It's time to do the smart thing. It's time to raise our minimum wage."

That got a standing ovation from some, and during this election year, some Republican leaders think some increase from $7.25 an hour is possible.

"His number is off the table that he wants to go to, but I don't think the minimum wage itself is off the table, and it is something we will continue to discuss," says Ward.

Delano: Do you have a dollar amount in mind?

Ward: You're not trapping me into that.

Everyone agrees that the governor's budget is the starting point for negotiations that must be completed by June 30. What the final numbers will be, nobody knows yet.