1/14/10 URGENT (Corrected) : The Governor on January 12 implemented spending freezes from the General Fund totaling $161 million. Below you will find a spreadsheet with the breakdown of all the reductions, worksheets on the county specific reductions in Act 152 (behaviorial health funding) and Human Services Development Fund and specific notes pulled from Dept. of Ag, DEP, DCED, and DPW line items that contain funding for county related programs.
2009-10 Spending Reductions
Act 152 County Specific Reductions Worksheet
HSDF County Specific Reductions Worksheet
Department of Agriculture
1% cut from the agricultural conservation easement
Department of Environmental Protection
30% cut from Black Fly
1% cut from West Nile and Gypsy Moth
Department of Community and Economic Development
Elimination of Funding For Tourist Promotion Assistance
12% cut to Marketing To Attract Tourists
Department of Public Welfare
The DPW share will be $54 million, and will be administered as follows:
1% cut from Mental Health
1% cut from Community Mental Retardation
1% cut from Children and Youth
$4 million cut from HSDF
1% cut to homeless assistance
CCAP was also advised that the Deputy Secretaries in DPW have begun the process of notifying their respective programs of the freezes, which are likely to become permanent cuts from amounts approved in the Commonwealth budget in October.
12/18/09 Governor Reports on Fiscal Status of the Commonwealth
Governor Rendell has presented his mid-year budget briefing, indicating a need to freeze spending approved in the current fiscal year budget to avoid further layoffs and to keep the Commonwealth spending levels within available revenues. Citing revenue collections below predictions, the Governor indicated that $170 million in approved spending will be frozen, including 1% of agency administrative funding and funding approved in October for discretionary grants. There was no detail on which discretionary grant programs will be subject to the freeze, and it is not entirely clear whether the freeze will impact any programs provided by counties on behalf of the Commonwealth.
Adding to the state’s budget problems, after the House and Senate failed to finalize table games legislation prior to their holiday break, the Governor announced that if he does not receive a table games bill on his desk by January 7, he will begin more layoffs and budget cuts in mid-January. The FY 2009-2010 budget counts on $250 million in revenue from licensing fees for table games. Appropriations for state-related universities, as well as non-preferred appropriations, had been withheld to balance the budget until table games passed. However, the Governor indicated that he must now sign bills funding the state related universities in order to avoid disruptions for students and to preserve the maintenance of effort required for ARRA funding. He will make blue-line reductions in all of the other non-preferred institutions.
Table games legislation has not been completed due to disagreements over licenses for resorts, and some issues with local shares for host communities. House and Senate leaders will continue negotiations, but neither chamber is scheduled to re-convene until January 5.
11/25/09 NACo Economic Status Survey - Counties Feeling Budget Crisis
Survey Link
From NACo E-News - The nation’s midsize and smaller counties are experiencing the full effects of the down economy and are struggling to cope with declining revenues as are larger counties and states, according to a new NACo survey. Nearly half of the responding counties said that their anticipated budget shortfall was worse than expected and four out of five said the shortfalls will continue into their next fiscal year. One hundred thirty-eight counties from 34 states responded to the survey sent randomly to 1,500 counties across the country.
10/30/09 Special Pension Update
CCAP recommends that counties review and discuss with their actuaries county pension provisions in Act 44 of 2009 that could reduce pressure on county budgets. Act 44 gives counties clear authorization to access several asset valuation methodologies allowing counties to reduce the burden of annual required contributions for county pension plans.
CCAP Memo on Act 44 of 2009
Link to Act 44 of 2009 (Formerly HB 1828)
Summary of the Act Prepared By The Pennsylvania Public Employee Retirement Commission
10/20/09 - Payments Update
On October 19, Governor Rendell with State Treasurer Rob McCord and Budget Secretary Soderberg announced that the state has made approximatelty 3 billion dollars worth of payments to counties, school districts, and social service providers.
The Governor indicated that $225 million for child welfare, $122 million for childcare services, and $1.5 billion for basic and special education were among high priority payments that had been processed.
The Governor said that all but a handful of payments were yet to be made. Budget Secretary Soderberg followed that comment by saying payments that have yet to be processed are due to contracts that were not finalized before the budget or situations were the budget had to be passed before specific formulas could be run. She went on to explain that Medical Assistance Transportation and various payments to DCNR are examples of formula situations.
Governor Rendell also replied to a reporter on the issue of interest incurred by organizations that had taken out loans. He said that he will reexamine the issue once a total figure is produced by his staff.
10/11/09 Budget Update
Governor Rendell signed the budget bill (HB 1416), the Tax Code (HB 1531), and the Fiscal Code bill (HB 1614) in his office prior to a press conference on Friday, October 9.
In the press conference, Rendell noted that this budget took entirely too long. He said he is committed to doing better next year and will speak to his staff early next week to cushion the blow for FY 2012, when the stimulus funds run out.
8/20/09 - URGENT: Cash Flow And Use Of Federal Funds For Children and Youth and Drug and Alcohol Services