Pennsylvania's legislature has sent an on-time, $31.5 billion fiscal 2017 budget to Gov. Tom Wolf.
All that's needed is $1.2 billion to balance it.
The House of Representatives late Thursday, the last day before fiscal 2017 took effect, approved the spending plan by a 144-54 vote, one day after the Senate signed off 47-3.
House and Senate leaders say the new revenue stream will not include any increases in the personal income or sales taxes. Options include hikes in the tobacco tax, expansion of legalized gambling, and a push for improved wine and liquor sales at state-run stores.
"I will sign the general appropriations bill as soon as there is a sustainable revenue package to pay for it, and I look forward to continuing to work with the legislature to achieve this," Wolf said in a statement Thursday night.
House Majority Leader Dave Reed, R-White Township, called revenue discussions "a work in progress."
The tone between Democrat Wolf and the leaders of the Republican-controlled legislature was more civil than last year, when an impasse forced a nine-month delay in the enactment of the fiscal 2016 spending plan that forced, counties, school districts and nonprofits to borrow billions to continue operating.
It also triggered more wrath from bond-rating agencies. The commonwealth has received five downgrades in the last three years, with rating agencies citing budget imbalance, among other factors.
Moody's Investors Service rates Pennsylvania's general obligation bonds Aa3 with a negative outlook. S&P Global Ratings assigns AA-minus and negative, while Fitch Ratings assigns AA-minus and stable.
Spending under the new plan would rise by 5% over last year's approved budget and represents half the increase Wolf had sought. Education, pension obligations, prisons and opioid abuse prevention measures account for much the spending hike.
"We still want to make investments and we did that in education," Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman, R- Bellefonte, told reporters.
Pennsylvania's State System of Higher Education, community colleges and so-called state-related colleges – Penn State, Temple University, University of Pittsburgh and Lincoln University – are in line for a 2.5% increase in allocations.
