Governor Tom Wolf's 2016-17 Budget Proposal

Governor Tom Wolf last week released his 2016-17 budget proposal along with a revised budget for 2015-16.  The Governor did not detail any of his budget priorities in his speech but discussed the $2 billion structural budget deficit and the impact this is having on the overall fiscal health of the Commonwealth. The Governor’s budget proposes total state spending in the General Fund budget for 2016-17 of $33.3 billion, or an increase of 7.9%, over the Governor’s Supplemental request for 2015-16.  This supplemental request is what the Governor proposes to complete the FY 2015-16 budget after he line item vetoed the budget sent to him by the legislature in December.  Also, the separate appropriations bills for the state-related universities have yet to pass for FY 2015-16. The Governor’s proposed increase of $3.025 billion is 10% over the actual expenditure of funds in 2014-15. 

In higher education, Governor Wolf proposes $305 million funding for PHEAA grants (roughly $420 million when combined with a requested PHEAA Supplement of $115 million from PHEAA’s earnings). The Governor provides no increase for other programs under PHEAA, including the Institutional Assistance Grants (IAGs) or the Ready to Succeed Scholarships (RTSS) in either his 2015-16 Supplement or 2016-17 Request. Governor Wolf reduced the PHEAA grants by $56.8 million and IAGs by $1.2 million from  the budget bill (HB 1460) which passed the House and the Senate at the end of December.

The Governor’s primary proposal in higher education is to increase institutional funding for public institutions with the community colleges, state system universities, and state-related universities all receiving roughly a 5% increase.  Governor Wolf proposes spending $1.8 billion in higher education, or an increase of around 2% for 2015-16 and an increase of 5.2% for 2016-17.

AICUP Student Aid Advocacy Day is on April 12, and we will encourage our students to promote student aid with members of the General Assembly and the Administration on that day. AICUP will also once again hold regional meetings on the state budget and advocacy efforts this spring to help students and key administrators understand the importance of this activity. 

Did you know? You can read the Governor’s budget address at https://www.governor.pa.gov/governor-wolfs-2016-2017-budget-address/.