Gov. Tom Wolf will pitch his eighth and last budget proposal to lawmakers Tuesday, as the Democrat pushes Republicans to spend more federal pandemic relief aid now and Wolf looks to cement his public school legacy by securing a big boost in state aid.
The state’s bank accounts are brimming with cash, and Wolf, who is constitutionally required to leave office next January when his second term ends, is touting himself as the only governor since Dick Thornburgh in 1987 to leave a cash surplus to his successor.
However, bullish plans on spending by Wolf and his fellow Democrats in the Legislature are getting pushback from Republican lawmakers.
Wolf otherwise has seen huge parts of his agenda thwarted year after year by the large Republican legislative majorities, including billions of dollars in tax increases that Wolf had pitched as necessary to prop up the state’s finances and restructure a school-funding system that disadvantages the poorest public schools.
