Investing in core functions: Pennsylvania’s FY 2014 budget spurs economic growth

With an overall increase of just more than 4.5 percent, Pennsylvania Governor Corbett’s $66.7 billion fiscal year (FY) 2014 budget shows signs of increasing economic strength for the commonwealth. Major reform initiatives include selling the state liquor system to invest in education, modernizing Pennsylvania’s transportation infrastructure and overhauling state pension systems. The sale of the state liquor system is anticipated to generate $1 billion and will fund the Passport for Learning Block Grant for school districts that can use the funding to enhance access to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) programs as well as for other initiatives.

From a vertical standpoint, health care, primary and secondary education and justice and public safety all saw increases hovering around 5 percent. The increase in health care can be attributed to expansion of services for disabled and older Pennsylvanians and children, and increased funding for state health centers. According to Acting Secretary of Health Michael Wolf, “In Pennsylvania, two million people live in communities that the federal government has designated as medically underserved.” 

 

Table 1: Pennsylvania Total Fiscal Year IT Line Items Budget

 

Overall spending on information technology projects increased 15 percent from FY 2013, much of which was designated toward general departmental IT modernization efforts, including shared service delivery under the Office of Enterprise Technology Services. The Technology Innovation Investment Fund received $7.7 million for enterprise and agency-specific innovation initiatives. The Governor’s Innovation Office has also prioritized specific IT projects in FY 2014 include the streamlining of print, imaging and mail operations, and implementation of electronic grants processing, which are expected to save the state $7 million and $50 million, respectively.

 

For a full analysis of Pennsylvania’s FY 2014 budget, see Deltek’s analysis, available here.

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