House Passes Budget IV General Fund Budget

The House tonight voted 107 to 93 to pass an apparently agreed-to General Fund budget in an amended House Bill 1416 (D.Evans-D-Philadelphia) which is virtually identical to the version of the budget passed by the Senate on Tuesday. The bill will now return to the Senate for a concurrence vote.
A Budget IV Spreadsheet is available online.
The new General Fund budget proposal means a 26.7 percent reduction in funding for the Department of Environmental Protection ($58 million) and a 18.5 percent reduction for the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources ($21 million).
Here are some highlights for the General Fund budget proposal--
Agriculture
-- Overall- $67.8 million, a reduction from $76 million
-- Conservation Districts - $1.65 million, a reduction from $1.66
DCED
-- Land Use Planning Assistance- $375,000, a reduction from $3.7 million
DCNR - 18.5 percent reduction - $21 million
-- Overall- $92.3 million, a reduction from $113.3 million
-- State Park Operations- $50.3 million, a reduction from $59.6 million
-- State Forest Operations- $17.1 million, a increase from $16.9 million
-- Heritage Parks- zeroed out, a reduction from $7.6 million
Penn State University
-- Agricultural Research - zeroed out, a reduction from $24 million
-- Agricultural Extension Services- zeroed out, a reduction from $28.5 million
DEP - 26.7 percent reduction - $58 million
-- Overall- $159 million, a reduction from $217 million
-- General Government- $14.1 million, a reduction from $17.1 million
-- Conservation Districts- $3 million, a reduction from $3.6 million
-- Stormwater Management- zeroed out, a reduction from $2 million
-- Sewage Facilities Grants- $1 million, a reduction from $1.5 million
-- Sewage Facilities Enforcement- $3 million, a reduction from $4.9 million
Insurance
-- Repayment from Storage Tank Insurance Fund- zeroed out, a reduction from $3 million
State System of Higher Education
-- PA Center for Environmental Education- $368,000, no reduction
-- McKeever Environmental Center- $213,000, no reduction
With the tax proposal going to the Governor, the last major piece of the budget yet to be passed is the Fiscal Code bill which contains the State Forest natural gas drilling proposal and other environmental items.