One Democratic lawmaker is calling for the state to spend the record surplus in this year’s budget.
State Senator Vincent Hughes of Philadelphia says Pennsylvania is on track to end the current fiscal year with a $9.1 billion surplus, along with $2 billion in unspent federal coronavirus relief funding.
Hughes spoke yesterday at a rally urging lawmakers to spend the surplus.
“There is no excuse that can say “we don’t have the money,'” Hughes told a crowd in Harrisburg. “We can put the money in education. We can put the money in healthcare. And we damn sure put the money to fix up the housing stock that’s been sitting around for decades unattended to.”
Hughes added that this surplus is the largest that Pennsylvania has had in over 20 years.