Senate Sends General Fund Budget To Governor

The Senate passed the General Fund budget bill-- House Bill 1416 (D.Evans-D-Philadelphia)-- that has been agreed to by House Democrats and Gov. Rendell by a vote of 42 to 7. It now goes to the Governor for his action.
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).
The Budget IV Line Item Spreadsheet is available online
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 million
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
DEP - 26.7 percent reduction - $58 million
-- Overall- $159 million, a reduction from $217 million in FY 08-09
-- 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
The Governor now has on his desk the General Fund budget bill, the Tax Code bill and the Judicial Code bill.
The three major remaining budget bills to go are the Fiscal Code, Welfare Code and the table games bill to complete work on the FY 2009-10 budget.