Gov. Tom Wolf proposed nearly $2 billion in new education funding in a state budget proposal Tuesday, telling the General Assembly school funding is not a “can ... to kick down the road.”

Republican legislators, on the other hand, called Wolf’s proposal a shortsighted attempt to buy back voters alienated by his administration’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Local state Rep. Abby Major, R-60th, said such a major increase is infeasible given the state of the state’s coffers.

In an address to a joint session of the General Assembly, Wolf outlined the vision behind his proposed 2022-23 commonwealth budget, which would include a $1.75 billion boost to state basic funding for public schools, along with increases to various other education funding programs.

‘Fair Funding Formula’

Under Wolf’s proposal, more than $2 billion in state funds — or 26.5% of the state’s basic education funding — would be allocated to school districts following the new “Fair Funding Formula,” established in 2016, which provides funds to districts based on needs rather than just the district’s size.

“The Fair Funding Formula was created by a bipartisan commission chaired by two Republican legislators, and it represents a long-overdue step toward achieving equal opportunity in our commonwealth,” Wolf said. “It promises that a child’s chance to thrive will not be determined by their ZIP code. Now it’s time to keep that promise.”

In addition, Wolf’s proposal would bolster the state’s “Level Up” program, which provides funds to the 100 most underfunded schools, by $300 million; increase special education spending by $200 million; and add $60 million to Pre-K Counts, the state’s preschool program for 3- and 4-year-olds.

The governor said his proposal would not raise “one penny in state taxes” or jeopardize “one penny in state funding” for any school district.

“Refusing to fund education equitably does not save us money,” the governor said. It just means we wind up spending more on social services, remedial programs, even prisons.”

But Wolf’s Republican opponents in the General Assembly disagreed such increases would be prudent given Pennsylvania’s current financial situation.

Major, whose district includes Buffalo and Winfield townships, accused the governor of “living in a fantasy land.”

“Today he again offered a bloated spending plan that will put Pennsylvania in a tailspin,” Major said. “He is using arbitrary revenue and expenditure estimates to paper over the real effect his proposal would have on hard-working Pennsylvanians.”

Like Major, state Rep. Marci Mustello, R-11th, said Wolf’s budget proposals consistently include bloated spending plans.

“He has consistently, for the last eight years, conjured up countless ways to spend more and more of your hard-earned money,” Mustello said. “It’s sad that in his last year Gov. Wolf did not want to plan for the future fiscal security of the commonwealth and, instead, he focused on planning to spend all of our money.”

Wolf once again called upon the state Legislature to increase Pennsylvania’s minimum wage from $7.25, where it has remained since 2006, to $15 an hour.

With the exception of West Virginia, Wolf said, all of Pennsylvania’s neighbors have upped their minimum pay for all workers and are en route to a $15 per hour minimum wage.

“It's just like school funding,” Wolf said. “Refusing to address the problem in this case or that case won't make the problem go away.“

The governor said maintaining a lower minimum pay rate costs other Pennsylvania taxpayers.

“When people are able to earn a decent wage, they can contribute to the economic life of their communities and the commonwealth,” Wolf said. “On the other hand, when they work full time but still don’t earn enough to pay for bare necessities like food, shelter, clothing and heat, taxpayers wind up footing the bill.”

Wolf called raising the minimum wage the “right thing” and the “smart thing” to do, but received applause only from his Democratic colleagues in the General Assembly.

The governor used his speech to reflect on the state’s economic turnaround since his tenure began in 2014.

When he first addressed the General Assembly, he said, Pennsylvania’s budget deficit was between $2 billion and $3 billion, it was one of “the least creditworthy states in the nation,” its savings account would fund just 20 minutes of state operations, and it couldn’t pay pensions.

“We’ve turned that $2 (billion) to $3 billion structural deficit into a $2 (billion) to $3 billion structural budget surplus,” Wolf said to applause. “We’ve built our rainy day fund to more than $2.8 billion, more than 12,000 times what it was when I took office.”

Pennsylvania’s newfound budget surplus is “not an excuse for a spending spree,” Wolf said, but it allows the state to invest in its residents’ futures, by way of education, job training and health expenditures.

Republicans in the Legislature agreed that the budget surplus is no excuse to spend more and more funds.

“He spoke about our current budget surplus, but I know that this is only because the House Republicans have pushed back against his cradle-to-grave tax increases he has proposed during this tenure,” Major said. “Taking credit for someone else’s work is disingenuous.”